Sick Leave Pool (G/P)

I.  Definitions

1. Catastrophic illness or injury: a severe condition or combination of conditions affecting the mental or physical health of an employee, an employee’s immediate family or an individual residing in an employee’s home that requires the services of a licensed practitioner for an extended period of time and that forces an employee to exhaust all paid leave time.
2. Licensed practitioner (“Physician”): a practitioner, as defined in Texas Insurance Code, who is practicing within the scope of his or her license.
3. Immediate family: includes spouse, child, parent, sibling, or foster children who are placed in the home by the Texas Department of Child Protective and Regulatory Services. Also included are individuals related by kinship, adoption or marriage, who are totally dependent on the employee for care and support and live in the same household or if not in the same household are totally dependent upon the employee for personal care or services on a continuing basis.
4. Sick Leave Pool Committee: a committee comprised of a representative appointed from each of the classified, professional-technical and full-time faculty employee associations that is responsible for reviewing a request for Sick Leave Pool hours and making a recommendation to the Vice President of Human Resources.

II.  Applying for Sick Leave Pool Hours

1. To apply for Sick Leave Pool hours, an employee must complete the Request for Sick Leave Pool Hours online form and submit a Health Care Provider Certification form (physician’s statement) to the Human Resources Benefits office. Both items should be submitted prior to exhausting all accrued leave since Sick Leave Pool hours may not be awarded retroactively.
2. All requests for Sick Leave Pool hours must be accompanied by a physician’s statement that indicates the beginning date of the condition, a description of the illness or injury, a prognosis for recovery, and the anticipated date the employee will be able to return to work.
3. If the hours being requested for use are to care for an immediate family member, the request must also include the relationship to the employee, where the family member resides, a physician’s statement giving details of the illness or injury and a statement concerning to what extent the family member is totally dependent on the employee for primary care on a continuing basis.

III. Review Process

1. The Human Resources Benefits office shall send the employee’s request for review to the Sick Leave Pool Committee. The review process can take up to 10 business days for review and processing following the submission of all required documentation, including the physician’s statement.
2. The Sick Leave Pool Committee shall review the request and make a recommendation to the Vice President of Human Resources. The Vice President of Human Resources shall review the committee’s recommendation and make a final determination.
3. The Human Resources Benefits office shall notify the employee and supervisor of the final decision and enter the employee’s awarded hours in the College’s time reporting system.
4. The immediate supervisor shall ensure that an eligible employee is advised of the program and upon approval, the employee’s time is accurately reported in the time reporting system.

IV.  General

1. Any unused balance of awarded Sick Leave Pool hours granted to the employee shall be returned to the pool.
2. Employees may not receive Sick Leave Pool hours while receiving Workers Compensation Insurance payments.
3. An employee who is drawing leave from the Sick Leave Pool may not work at ACC in any other position or work elsewhere while receiving paid leave from the pool.
4. The estate of a deceased employee is not entitled to payment for unused hours granted to the employee from the Sick Leave Pool. Unused hours will be returned to the pool.