3. Leaves and Absences
E.3.01 - Leave
All absences from work shall be reported to and approved by the employee's immediate supervisor in accordance with the policies and procedures of the System. Any employee who is absent from work without approved leave, and without appropriate notification to his or her supervisor, shall forfeit compensation and shall be subject to disciplinary action up to and including discharge from employment.
Any employee who is absent from work for three consecutive workdays without contact with or approval from the employee's immediate supervisor shall be considered to have abandoned the position and to have resigned from the System.
The Human Resources Department will maintain records of the vacation and sick leave accrual and absences of each employee, and the reasons therefore, whether from sickness, vacation, other paid leave, or leave of absence without pay. Any medical information or documentation that identifies injury, illness or disability of an employee or his or her relatives or domestic partners are to be treated as confidential and are to be immediately sent to the System Office Human Resources Department for storage in an appropriate confidential manner.
E.3.02 - Sick Leave - Eligibility
All fulltime employees who are in positions requiring twelve months of service, shall be eligible for twelve (12) sick leave days per year. Sick leave shall be accrued on a monthly basis to a maximum of 520 hours.
Fulltime employees assigned to work less than twelve months shall earn one day of sick leave per month for their period of employment.
E.3.03 - Use of Sick Leave
Accumulated sick leave may be used for personal illness or illness of a family member or a domestic partner or adoption of a child. An employee may be required to produce appropriate medical documentation of the illness, particularly when the absences recur in a pattern, or when the absence for illness may qualify for Family Medical Leave or short term disability leave.
For purposes of the sick leave portion of this policy, the following meanings apply:
"Family" means a husband, wife, child (natural, foster, step, or adopted), parent (natural, step or adoptive), grandmother, grandfather, grandchild, sister, brother, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle and in-laws in the same degree of relationship as listed above. An employee may also use sick leave to care for an individual who is in the employee's legal custody.
"Domestic Partner" relationship refers to an unmarried couple who:
a. Have resided together for at least six months and intends to continue to do so permanently;
b. Are not related to one another by blood to a degree of closeness that would prohibit marriage, were they of the opposite sex;
c. Are mutually responsible for basic living expenses;
d. Each have attained the age of consent; and
e. Each partner is not married to or in a Domestic Partnership with anyone else.
An employee may not request to use sick leave for the illness of a Domestic Partner unless, prior to the request for leave, the employee has filed an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership with the System Office Human Resources Department.
E.3.04 - Personal Leave
Employees may use a maximum of 2-5 days of sick leave per year for personal leave based on years of service as of September 1st of each year. Advance approval of the immediate supervisor is required.
Faculty should give sufficient notice of their need to take a personal leave day to the Dean to ensure appropriate class coverage.
Adjunct faculty are allowed one personal leave period per course taught each semester with no reduction in pay. (This is calculated by taking contact hours divided by number of weeks in semester) The adjunct faculty must give sufficient notice of the need to take leave to the Department Chair to ensure appropriate class coverage.
E.3.05 - Professional Leave
Professional leave may be approved for employees to attend conferences or workshops. The conference or workshop must be related to the employee's teaching or working assignment, in the best interest of the System, included in the departmental budget, and approved by the employee's supervisor.
E.3.06 - Vacation Leave - Eligibility
Paid vacation leave shall be available to all full-time non-faculty employees who are in positions requiring twelve months of uninterrupted service. An employee is entitled to use accrued vacation leave upon approval of his or her supervisor.
E.3.07 - Accrual of Vacation Leave
Vacation leave is calculated and earned on the first day of each pay period, according to the employee's status; and, for non-contractual employees, according to years of service.
Non-Contractual Employees
| Length of Service | Annual Accrual | Per Month |
| 1-5 years | 12 days (96 hours) | 8 hours |
| 6-10 years | 16 days ( 128 hours) | 10.67 hours |
| 11 + years | 20 days (160 hours) | 13.34 hours |
Contractual employees shall earn 13.34 hours per month beginning with the first month of employment.
Employees may accumulate vacation leave up to a maximum of two times their annual accrual rate. Any vacation leave accumulated in excess of this maximum shall be used during the fiscal year or be forfeited on August 31. Employees may not take more vacation time than they have accrued.
E.3.08 - Change of Position
In the event that an employee's position will change from a position that accrues vacation leave to one that does not, the employee must use accrued but unused vacation leave prior to the effective date of the change of status. Upon the request of a supervisor, approved by the LEO and the Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, an employee changing positions may be paid for the value of the accrued leave.
E.3.09 - Bereavement Leave
All full-time employees may take up to two days of paid excused absence and use sick leave or other leave if more time is needed from work in the event of the death of a family member. "Family" means a husband, wife, child (natural, foster, step, adopted), parent (natural, step of adoptive), grandmother, grandfather, grandchild, sister, brother, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle or in-laws in the same degree of relationship as listed above, or Domestic Partner or an individual for whom the employee has legal custody. The definition for "Domestic Partner" is included in the "Use of Sick Leave" Section, above.
If additional time off is requested and approved, it may be charged to vacation leave, personal leave, compensatory time or leave without pay.
E.3.10 - Holidays
All offices will be closed in observance of the holidays indicated in the academic calendar.
Full-time employees required to work on a holiday shall be paid their regular rate of pay and will accrue the holiday to be taken on an alternative date with the approval of their supervisor and LEO.
Full-time employees required to work on a holiday who are not able to use hours on an alternate day due to scheduling difficulty, will be paid for the holiday hours. If the employee is non-exempt, the employee is entitled to overtime pay, instead of compensatory time, for hours worked in excess of forty on a holiday week.
If a holiday falls within an employee's vacation leave, such holiday will not be charged as vacation time and the vacation leave will be extended accordingly.
E.3.11 - Religious Holy Days
The System shall not discriminate against, or penalize in any way, an employee who is absent from work for the observance of a religious holy day and gives proper notice of that absence.
"Proper notice" shall consist of providing to the supervisor a list of religious holy days to be observed during the semester. A faculty member must give notice to his or her Dean and to all students whose class would be canceled due to the faculty member's absence.
The leave time to observe religious holy days may be charged to vacation leave, compensatory time (if applicable), or leave without pay.
E.3.12 - Jury Duty or Legal Duty
A full-time employee required to appear for jury duty or to testify in court proceedings in which he or she is not a party shall be released from his or her assigned duties as necessary with no loss of salary or reduction in leave. An employee will not be discharged, disciplined, or otherwise penalized because he or she complies with a notice of jury duty or a valid subpoena to appear in a civil, criminal, legislative, or administrative proceeding. An employee must provide a photocopy of the jury notice or subpoena with his or her leave form.
E.3.13 - Military Service - Non-Discrimination
The System shall not deny initial employment, reemployment, retention in employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment on the basis of membership in a uniformed service, performance in a uniformed service, application for uniformed service, or obligation to a uniformed service. The System shall not take adverse employment action or discriminate against any person who takes action to enforce protections afforded by the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). The System shall post, in accordance with federal law, a written notice of the rights, benefits and obligations of such persons and the System under USERRA.
E.3.14 - Military Leave - Short Term
All employees of the System who are members of the state military forces or of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces shall be granted a leave of absence from their duties without loss of time, vacation time, or salary on all days during which they are engaged in authorized training or duty ordered or authorized by proper authority, not to exceed 15 days in a fiscal year.
Such employees who are ordered to military duty as described in this Section shall be restored, when relieved from duty, to a position with similar rank and pay as that held by them when ordered to duty.
E.3.15 - Military Leave - Long Term
Any employee, other than a temporary employee, who leaves his or her position for the purpose of entering into active duty with the regular or reserve Armed Forces of the United States or with the Texas National Guard or Texas State Guard, if discharged, separated, or released from such active duty under honorable conditions within five years from the date of enlistment or call to active service, shall be restored to employment in the same position with the same rate of pay as that held at the time of entering into active service, or to a position of like seniority, status, and pay if the employee is still physically and mentally qualified to perform the duties of such position.
If such employee is not qualified to perform the duties of his or her previous position by reason of disability sustained during such military service, but is qualified to perform the duties of another position with the System, the veteran shall be restored to employment in the other position which he or she is qualified to hold and which will provide like seniority, status, and pay, or the nearest approximation.
Any employees restored to employment shall be considered to have been on Ieave of absence during military service and shall be entitled to participate in retirement and all other benefits available to other employees in like positions. Such employee shall not be dismissed from his or her position, without cause for one year following restoration of employment.
Veterans eligible for restoration to employment under the terms of this policy shall make written application for such restoration to the Chair of the Board within 90 days after discharge or release from active federal or state military service and shall attach to such application evidence of discharge, separation, or release under honorable conditions.
E.3.16 - Leave of Absence without Pay
A full-time System employee may be granted an unpaid leave of absence if the employee submits a written request for the leave, showing benefit to the System if the leave is approved; that a suitable replacement is available; and that the leave has been approved by the LEO and Chancellor.
Contractual employees who are approved for leave without pay shall submit similar documentation to the Board.
E.3.17 - Disability - Long-Term Disability
An employee who becomes eligible for State of Texas long-term disability benefits will be placed on inactive status. An employee will be removed from inactive status and returned to active status if he or she returns to work with documentation from his or her licensed physician (M.D. or D.O.) showing that the employee is able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation. An employee will be terminated if he or she has been absent from work for twelve (12) consecutive months from the onset of the disability or illness, without return to work. FMLA leave is not counted toward the 12 month time.
The System may re-activate the employee in the position held by the employee prior to the date of his or her disability, injury, illness, or medical condition, or transfer the employee into another position, provided that the employee is able to perform the essential functions of the job, and the one-year period has not expired.
E.3.18 - Disability - Short-Term Disability
The System Office Human Resources Department is responsible for managing a short-term disability program to provide short-term, reduced compensation to an eligible full-time employee who has a documented illness, injury, or medical condition that prevents the employee from performing his or her job.
When supported by documentation from a licensed physician (M.D. or D.O.), an employee is eligible to receive short-term disability benefits up to 90 calendar days per fiscal year if:
f. He or she has been absent for the same illness, injury, or medical condition for five or more working days, and
g. He or she has exhausted all paid leave, including sick leave, vacation leave, personal leave, and compensatory time.
Once an employee qualifies for short-term disability, he or she shall receivesalary at a rate of pay equal to sixty percent (60%) of his or her salary per fiscal year as long as he or she remains disabled, not to exceed ninety (90) calendar days. An employee who is on short-term disability leave may not return to work unless his or her licensed physician (M.D. or D.O.) submits clear and unequivocal documentation that the employee is able to perform all the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accomodation. The System Department of Human Resources may require an employee to submit to a physical examination performed by a licensed physician (M.D. or D.O.) chosen by the System, prior to his or her return to work.
E.3.19 - Sabbatical Leave
Sabbatical leave refers to an award of a specific period of leave during which an eligible faculty member or administrator will be released from his or her responsibilities to the System to engage, full-time, in professional development, study, research, writing, work experience related to his or her field of work, or to address the strategic needs of the System.
A faculty member may be awarded sabbatical leave for either:
a. one full semester, in which case he or she would receive his or her full salary and benefits for the semester ; or
b. two semesters, in which case he or she would receive one-half (50%) of his or her annualized nine-month salary and full benefits.
An administrator may be awarded sabbatical leave for a period of five months, during which time he or she will receive his or her full contract salary and benefits.
Full-time faculty and full-time administrators with at least seven years of continuous service to the System in a contractual position are eligible to be awarded a sabbatical. A faculty member or administrator who was awarded a sabbatical at any time during the previous seven years is not eligible to be awarded a sabbatical.
During the time that an administrator or faculty member is on sabbatical leave, he or she may not continue to perform additional services or receive any stipend, program coordinator pay or overload pay.
Any faculty member or administrator who is awarded sabbatical leave must serve two complete contract years of full-time service to the System following return from sabbatical leave. A faculty member or administrator who takes sabbatical leave and does not fulfill this service requirement must repay the full value of the leave on a pro-rata basis considering how much of the two years have been completed.
The Chancellor will appoint a committee consisting of one administrator, one faculty member from each college and one professional contractual staff member from each college to develop procedures regarding the application process and timelines for selecting persons to be awarded sabbatical leave.
Each year, the Chancellor shall determine the number of available sabbatical leave awards. The award process shall be conducted at each location in accordance with the System procedures.
E.3.20 - Faculty Leave Banking
The Chancellor shall establish a Faculty Leave Banking program to permit faculty, and other full-time employees who teach, to convert compensation earned through extra service assignments into a future leave pool. This program shall permit an eligible employee who has earned the equivalent of a full-semester of banked leave plus three additional contact hours to take a semester's leave with full pay.
An eligible employee who has elected the leave banking option may reverse the election at any point before he or she has taken the banked leave. If an eligible employee reverses the election, the amount of salary to be paid is the same amount that he or she would have been paid if the leave banking option had not been elected and shall not reflect any interest earnings, salary adjustments or subsequent reclassifications.
E.3.21 - Sick Leave Pool
The Chancellor has established an optional sick leave pool program for the benefit of full-time employees. The pool is intended to provide additional paid sick leave to participating members of the pool who have exhausted all leaves due to extensive or recurrent medical problems.
Participation in the sick leave pool is voluntary. A full-time employee is eligible to join the pool after completing twelve (12) months of employment if he or she has accumulated at least 80 hours of unused personal sick leave. Enrollment periods shall be held in March and September of each year and at other times authorized by the Chancellor. The sick leave pool program will be administered by LSCS Department of Human Resources.
In order to participate in the pool, each employee must contribute a minimum of 3 days (24 hours), 5 days (40 hours) or a maximum of 10 days (80 hours) of sick leave . Contributed sick leave days will not be returned to the employee contributing, except as an award of pool benefits. An employee will not be required to replenish the pool unless he or she has been found by the LSCS Department of Human Resources to have abused the privilege of the sick leave pool.
Employees participating in the pool may request to use days from the sick leave pool only after exhausting all accrued and unused sick leave, vacation leave and compensatory time, if eligible. The maximum number of days available to be drawn from the sick leave pool is 30 working days in a fiscal year (September through August).
Once an employee has used all available days from the pool, he or she will be able to again use the pool the next fiscal year. An employee utilizing the sick leave pool will continue to accrue leave.
Utilization of sick leave from the sick leave pool will at all times be contingent upon the availability of sick leave days in the pool. Any sick leave drawn from the pool must be used for the employee's personal illness, accident, surgery, or injury and must be supported by a licensed physician's statement on a form approved by the Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources or his/her designee.
Alleged abuse of the sick leave pool will be investigated by the Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and or his/her designee. Any employee found to have submitted incorrect or false documents to support leave will be required to repay all sick leave credits drawn from the pool, will be subject to suspension or removal from the pool and may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including discharge of employment.
An employee who becomes a member of the sick leave pool will remain a member as long as he or she continues as a full time employee, and is not suspended or removed from the pool. An employee who wishes to terminate his or her membership in the sick pool must do so by submitting a written request to the Human Resources Department.