Chapter 5: Personnel

05:08:10   Leave: Faculty Sick Leave Bank

---

Purpose

The faculty sick leave bank provides emergency sick leave to members of the program who have suffered an unplanned personal illness, injury, disability, or quarantine and who have exhausted their personal sick and annual leave.

Administration

The faculty sick leave bank will be administered by five (5) trustees appointed by the president of Northeast State. At least three (3) of the appointees will be faculty who devote a majority of their time to classroom instruction. All appointments will be for three (3) year terms after an initial appointment of one (1) year for two trustees, two (2) years for two trustees, and three (3) years for one trustee. The trustees will elect a chair at their first meeting. Trustees will be eligible for reappointment, and any vacancy resulting from expiration of a term, retirement, resignation, discontinuation of employment, or death will be filled immediately by the president. All actions by the trustees shall require three (3) affirmative votes.

Eligibility

All regular full-time employees of Northeast State who hold faculty rank will be eligible to participate in the faculty sick leave bank; however, a minimum participation of twenty (20) employees will be required to establish and maintain the bank.

Special Eligible Considerations

a. Employees previously enrolled in the Non-Faculty Sick Leave Bank who are appointed to a faculty position with no breaks in service shall be eligible immediately to transfer membership to the Faculty Sick Leave Bank with no additional assessment or waiting period required. No hours will be transferred between the Faculty and Non-Faculty Sick Leave Banks.

b. Members who are terminated and rehired with a break in service within a twelve (12) month period following their enrollment shall be entitled to membership with no additional assessment. Employees rehired after one enrollment year will incur a new enrollment assessment during the annual enrollment period.

c. An employee who transfers with no break in service from another TBR institution, the University of Tennessee, or state agency, and participated in the previous employer’s sick leave bank program is immediately eligible for membership in accordance with the standard eligibility requirements noted above. The transferring employee will have 30 days from the date that Human Resources notifies them that prior service has been verified with the previous employer to enroll in the Faculty Sick Bank. The employee will be required to donate the minimum assessment (hourly equivalent of 3 days) to enroll. 


Guidelines

1. Those electing to participate in the bank will initially have the equivalent of three (3) days of sick leave deducted from their accumulated sick leave and transferred to the bank. Anyone electing to participate will sign up during the month of October each year. Donations of sick leave days to the bank are NON-REFUNDABLE AND NON-TRANSFERABLE with the following exceptions:
   
   
   1. If dissolution of the bank becomes necessary because the institution or branch is closed;
   2. If dissolution becomes necessary because membership in the bank falls below twenty (20) individuals.
      
      In such cases the total days on deposit will be returned to the participating members at the time of dissolution and credited to their personal sick leave accumulation in proportion to the number of days each has contributed. Days returned and credited to an individual will be rounded to the nearest one-half (1/2) hour or equivalent.
      
      
2. A bank member may cancel their membership at any time upon written notification to the trustees. Cancellation will take effect within sixty (60) days of receipt of written notification. Assessed sick leave days will be NON REFUNDABLE upon cancellation of membership and NON TRANSFERABLE upon re employment at another TBR institution or area school, University of Tennessee, or other state agency.
   
   
3. Members of the bank will be eligible to make application to the bank for sick leave only after having been a member of the bank for thirty (30) calendar days.
   
   
4. A participant will not receive any sick leave from the bank until after having exhausted all accumulated sick and annual leave.
   
   
5. Leave grants from the bank, approved by the trustees, will not be more than the hourly equivalent of twenty (20) consecutive working days for which the individual applicant would have otherwise lost pay. Applicants may submit requests for extension of such leave grants before or after their prior grants expire; however, subsequent grants of sick bank sick leave will not exceed the hourly equivalent of sixty (60) days in any fiscal year. The maximum number of days any participant may receive as a result of any one illness, recurring diagnosed illness, or accident is the hourly equivalent of ninety (90) days.
   
   
6. In the event a member is physically or mentally unable to apply for sick bank leave, the immediate next of kin may make a request on their behalf. If a next of kin is unavailable, this request may be made by the legally appointed guardian or conservator or an individual acting under valid power of attorney.
   
   
7. Applicants must submit a certificate of condition from a state certified physician. Requests for sick bank leave unaccompanied by documentation will not be accepted.
   
   
8. Grants of sick bank leave will not be contingent upon repayment of hours used or waiver of other employment benefit rights.
   
   
9. Grants of sick leave from the bank will not be made to any member for:
   
   
   1. Elective surgery;
   2. Illness or death of a family member, except for minor children;
   3. A period of time when Social Security disability benefits, state sponsored retirement benefits, or Board of Claims benefits are being received.
      
      
10. A member will relinquish bank benefits upon:
    
    
    1. Termination of employment;
    2. Retirement;
    3. Cancellation of participation;
    4. Refusal or inability to honor assessments;
    5. Leave of absence in a non-pay status for reasons other than illness, injury, or disability.
       
       
11. Employees who are granted sick bank leave will continue to accrue sick leave and annual leave (if applicable) and service credit for retirement and longevity purposes during the time they are on sick bank leave. Also, they will earn credit for any holidays that occur during the period they are receiving sick bank leave.
    
    
12. Trustees will approve or reject all requests for sick bank leave within ten (10) calendar days of its receipt during the semester. The office of Human Resources will process the request within five (5) working days of its receipt.
    
    
13. All records and official forms of the bank and minutes of the trustee meetings will be maintained in the office of Human Resources. All records will be subject to audit by appropriate state officials.
    
    
14. Applicants for membership in the faculty sick leave bank must have a sick leave balance of the hourly equivalent of seven (7) days before joining the bank.
    
    
15. The annual enrollment period will be from October 1-31 each year.
    
    
16. All eligible participants will be assessed the hourly equivalent of three days (22.5 hours) during their initial assessment. Further assessments will not exceed the hourly equivalent of three days (22.5 hours).
    
    
17. When at any given time the sick leave balance drops below an adequate reserve of useable days for bank members based on total membership and projected need, the trustees will re assess active members. The anticipated inaugural minimal balance is the hourly equivalent of forty (40) days.
    
    
18. In the event the sick leave bank balance is less than 120 days in the month of September, all active members will be assessed a minimum of one (1) day during the annual enrollment period. This minimal balance is subject to change by the trustees (depending upon the need to maintain an adequate reserve of useable days reflecting total membership and projected need).
19. Following the initial membership assessment, additional voluntary donations of sick leave hours are not permitted, except as provided in TBR Policy 5:01:01:15.

Procedures

1. Faculty sick leave requests will be made on forms prepared and approved by the trustees and then filed with the office of Human Resources. Said office will forward a copy of the request to the chair of the sick bank trustees within two (2) working days.

2. With the exception of extreme and unusual cases, all requests to draw upon the bank must be made upon a faculty sick leave bank request form and submitted to the trustees within thirty (30) calendar days of the first date bank usage is requested. A state-certified physician’s statement verifying the nature of the illness or injury and the inability of the employee to work must accompany the application form.

3. The office of Human Resources will process the approved request within five (5) working days.

Back to Top

Divisional Review Responsibilities Checklist: Human Resources