Board Policy 5098-A
Sick Leave Bank Policy
Sick leave days may be donated to the Sick Bank for District employee’s use within the following guidelines:
Permission to receive donations will be granted only for a District employee who is suffering from or has a relative or household member suffering from an extraordinary or severe illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that has caused or will cause the employee to exhaust all accumulated sick leave earned pursuant to Title 70, Section 6-104 of the Oklahoma Statutes and that has caused or is likely to cause the employee to take leave without pay or to terminate employment, as determined by the Board of Education.
For purposes of this Policy, the following definitions apply:
“Relative of the employee” means a spouse, child, stepchild, grandchild, grandparent, stepparent or parent of the employee.
“Household members” means those persons who reside in the same home, who have reciprocal duties to and do provide financial support for one another, including foster children and legal wards, even if they do not live in the household. This term does not include persons sharing the same general house, when the living style is primarily that of a dormitory or commune.
“Severe” or “extraordinary” means serious, extreme or life-threatening. “District employee” means a teacher or any full-time employee of the School District. Whether an employee is a “full-time employee of the School District” will be determined by the standard period of labor that is customarily understood to constitute full-time employment for the type of services performed by the employee.The request for permission to receive donations must be in writing and may be presented to the Superintendent by the District employee or another employee (acting with the affected employee’s permission) in his or her behalf. The Superintendent may approve or disapprove the request. The employee may appeal the denied request to the Board of Education. A District employee may be eligible to receive donations if the Superintendent or Board determines that the employee meets the criteria described in this policy and the employee has followed District policies regarding the use of sick leave. To allow the Superintendent or Board to determine whether the employee meets the criteria described in this policy, the employee may be required to submit a medical certificate from a licensed physician or health care practitioner verifying the severe or extraordinary nature and expected duration of the condition.
A donee may not use any banked sick leave until his or her own sick leave earned pursuant to Title 70, Section 6-104 of the Oklahoma Statutes has been exhausted. The donee may use banked sick leave only for the purposes specified in this policy.
Banked sick leave will be paid at the daily rate of the donee, not the donor. The sick leave received by the donee will be designated as banked sick leave and will be maintained separately from all other sick leave balances.
Banked sick leave to the Sick Leave Bank, not used by the donee during an occurrence as determined by the Board, shall not be returned to the donating employee. The unused sick leave will be banked and made available to any employee who requests and qualifies for the program.
Any eligible employee shall be required to use the Sick Leave Bank Program first, as long as there is a sufficient amount of leave to be used. If there is insufficient leave in the Sick Leave Bank, the employee may use Sick Leave Sharing, please see board policy 5098. Both programs will be used in accordance with this policy and Title 70, Section 6-104 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
The maximum total number of days that may be received as donations by any employee, when using the Sick Leave Sharing or the Sick Leave Bank, is a maximum of 120 days during his/her total District employment. Donations to the Sick Leave Bank may be made at any time.
An employee may only bank days that are earned and accumulated. The donor may bank any amount of sick leave provided the donation does not cause his or her sick leave balance to fall below ten (10) days. However, upon the resignation or retirement of a donating employee from Northeast Tech, that employee may donate any amount provided it does not cause their leave to fall below (120) days.
Any contribution or sick leave by one employee to another is strictly voluntary. No employee shall be coerced, threatened, intimidated or financially induced into banking sick leave under this policy. Each contribution of sick leave must be confirmed in writing by the donor to the office of the Superintendent.
Donated Sick Leave may be used in accordance with NTC Sick Leave Board Policy 5082.
Adopted on August 12, 2024