Leaves of absences provide support staff members the opportunity to maintain their physical health and provide care for family members in time of need. This can be done by leave schedules which: 1) encourage employees to take the necessary time to recuperate from illness; and, 2) provide a way for employees to arrange for absence in the event of family emergency or imperative personal business that cannot be accomplished on a non-school day;

All requests for leaves of absence (paid or unpaid) by professional staff members shall be presented to the School Board for approval.

All requests for extended leaves shall be considered by the Board of School Trustees on an individual basis with the best interest of the educational process as the ultimate reason for approval. The period of leaves, types of leaves and conditions will be limited to the provisions of the applicable master contracts or meet and confer agreements or this policy.

A comparable position, but not necessarily the same position or location, shall be offered to the employee returning from an approved leave of absence. The Board reserves the right to make changes in assignments based on staffing and budgetary factors.

All employees, when absent from duty for whatever reason, must notify their immediate supervisor/principal or principal designee of their inability to report to work. This notification must take place prior to the employee absence unless it is an extreme emergency. Unexcused absences will not be tolerated and will be considered sufficient cause for discipline. If an employee fails to notify his/her immediate supervisor/principal or principal designee of absence, deduction will be made from salary for the time lost or will be considered a no call/no show and be subject to disciplinary action, as applicable.

Any employee who does not report to his/her assigned place of work or who does not contact his/her immediate supervisor/principal or principal designee for three (3) consecutive work days will be considered to have voluntarily resigned. The effective date of his/her voluntary resignation will be the end of the normal work day on the third consecutive day.

Greater Clark reserves the right to place an employee on an unpaid leave of absence after accumulated paid leave has been exhausted, if the employee’s absences are significant or are detrimental to the operation of the school corporation based upon supervisor recommendation.

If an employee is returning from a leave of absence at the end of the school year, he/she must return to his/her position not later than the final two (2) weeks of student attendance.

Leaves of absence shall be limited to no more than two (2) continuous leaves in a twelve (12) month period. This twelve (12) month period is a rolling period from the first date of the first leave of absence. Any day an employee reports to work at the end of a leave will be a break in the continuous leave of absence.

Leaves of absences must be requested on the Corporation "Request for Leave of Absence Form".

A leave of absence is an approved absence from employment with or without pay as described in this policy.

Random days absent without pay, even with a medical statement, are no longer considered excused.

The Board shall permit the staff member to continue his/her health care benefits during a leave at the staff member’s expense.

The School Board, upon recommendation of the Superintendent, may grant a medical leave of absence for a period of up to one (1) year due to illness or other disability of the employee or employee’s immediate family (spouse, parents or children, by blood or marriage). The medical leave must be certified by a medical provider. This period may be extended for one (1) additional year with medical certification, and upon recommendation of the Superintendent and approval of the Board of School Trustees. A two (2) year period will be the maximum limit for medical leave.

Any medical leave of absence must be in writing prior to the employee being absent except in extreme emergency. The request must be made to the Director of Human Resources who will initiate the action. If the requested leave is valid, the Superintendent shall recommend the leave of absence to the Board of School Trustees for approval.

An employee must include medical certification for the need of a leave of absence from a qualified health care provider. If the Superintendent or his/her designee has reason to doubt the validity of the medical certification, the employee may be required to obtain a second opinion at school corporation expense. Should any variance between the two medical certifications exist, a third opinion, at school corporation expense, may be requested. This opinion shall be final and binding. Failure to submit the required medical certification may result in the denial of the leave or denial of the continuation of the leave.

If a medical leave of absence is approved, it shall be the responsibility of the employee to communicate any change or extension request to his/her supervisor/principal or principal designee and the Human Resources Department as soon as the employee is aware of the change or extension. At the very least, the employee shall notify the above prior to continuing on a leave of absence. If an approved medical leave of absence ends and the employee does not notify the Human Resources Department, nor does he/she report to work, he/she will have resigned his/her position due to job abandonment upon the third day after the end of the medical leave of absence.

All or any portion of this leave taken by an employee will be charged to his/her available annual leave and accumulated sick leave. After his/her available sick leave has been used, the employee may be absent, without pay for the remainder of one (1) year.

The employee may save one (1) annual day.

All rules in this policy apply to this type of leave of absence.

Any employee may continue in active employment as late into pregnancy as she desires, if she is able to fulfill the requirements of her position. Temporary disabilities caused by pregnancy shall be governed by the same provisions governing sickness and by the following: Any employee who is pregnant is entitled to a leave of absence any time between the commencement of her pregnancy and one (1) year following the birth of the child, if, except in a medical emergency, she notifies the Director of Human Resources at least thirty (30) days before the date on which she desires to start her leave. She shall also notify the Director of Human Resources of the expected length of this leave, including with this notice either a physician’s statement certifying her pregnancy or a copy of the birth certificate of the newborn, whichever is applicable. In the case of a medical emergency caused by pregnancy, the employee shall be granted a leave, as otherwise provided in this section, immediately upon her request and certification of the emergency from an attending physician.

All or any portion of leave taken by an employee because of a temporary disability caused by pregnancy will be charged to her available annual leave and accumulated sick leave. After her available sick leave has been used, the employee may be absent, without pay for the balance of the approved leave’s term.

The employee may save up to twelve (12) days of annual or accumulated days.

When a child is born to the wife of a male school employee, he is entitled to a leave of absence up to one (1) year if, except in a medical emergency, he notifies the supervisor/ principal or principal designee at least thirty (30) days before the date on which he desires to start his leave. He shall also notify the supervisor/principal or principal designee and the Director of Human Resources of the expected length of this leave, including with this notice either a physician’s statement certifying the pregnancy or a copy of the birth certificate of the newborn, whichever is applicable. In the case of a medical emergency caused by pregnancy, the employee shall be granted a leave immediately upon his request and certification of the emergency from an attending physician.

All or any portion of this leave taken by an employee will be charged to his available annual leave and accumulated sick leave. After his available sick leave has been used, the employee may be absent, without pay, for the remainder of one (1) year.

The employee may save up to twelve (12) days of annual or accumulated days.

A school employee may be entitled to, upon request, adoption leave without pay for a period not to exceed one (1) year, if, except in a medical emergency, said employee notifies the supervisor/principal or principal designee and the Director of Human Resources at least (30) days before the date on which the employee desires to start the leave. The employee shall also notify the supervisor/principal or principal designee and the Director of Human Resources of the expected length of this leave, including with this notice a certification of adoption and/or a copy of the birth certificate of the newborn, whichever is applicable. In the case of an emergency caused by the adoption procedure, the employee shall be granted a leave immediately upon a request and certification of the emergency from the agency handling the adoption or by an officer of the court where the adoption procedure is occurring.

All or any portion of this leave taken by an employee will be charged to his/her available annual leave and accumulated sick leave. After his/her available sick leave has been used, the employee may be absent, without pay for the remainder of one (1) year.

The employee may save up to twelve (12) days of annual or accumulated days.

A school employee who is not to be laid off may request a leave of absence for one (1) school year in order to reduce the number of school employees who are or will be laid off. The request shall be written and submitted to the Superintendent. The leave will be called the Reduction in Force Leave and will be for one (1) school year. The leave may terminate before this time if the school corporation approves the earlier termination. The Reduction in Force Leave can be extended for another school year if the school employee on a Reduction in Force Leave submits a written request by April 1 of the school year for which the school employee is on leave and the school corporation is still in "reduction in force status".

The Board will follow all regulations related to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) which provides employment and reemployment rights for members of the uniformed services, including veterans and members of the Reserve and National Guard. Under USERRA, service members who leave their civilian jobs for military service can perform their duties with the knowledge that they will be able to return to their jobs with the same pay, benefits, and status they would have attained had they not been away on duty. Military reservist employees and those volunteering for, or called to, active military duty are entitled to reemployment with the corporation upon their return from duty in full compliance with all applicable federal and state laws. In addition, besides the military leave benefits discussed above, employees who request a military leave of absence may elect to use any accrued vacation pay in lieu of unpaid leave, and may elect to continue health care benefits to the extent permitted by law, during their leave of absence.

Any employee, who as a reserve member of the armed forces of the United States or attending annual National Guard military training, shall be entitled to temporary leave not to exceed fifteen (15) regular days of school employment missed in any one (1) calendar year. This will include all regular full time employees. Regular part time and temporary employees do not qualify for military leave compensation. Any such temporary leave shall not affect the rights of the employee to vacation leave, sick leave or other normal benefits of employment. The employee’s salary for this period of time shall be the regular salary. Time spent on annual reserve and National Guard military training will not be counted as vacation time used. The employee is required to furnish the school corporation with proper certification orders to support the claims for compensation while absent on military training.

A staff member who has been employed for at least twelve (12) months and is the spouse, parent, grandparent, or sibling of a person who is ordered to active duty is entitled to an unpaid leave of absence during one (1) or more of the following periods.

The employee must provide the employer with the official orders for service prior to taking the leave.

The staff member must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding the day the leave begins.

The Board may extend to any employee who is elected to a political office a leave of absence without pay for up to one (1) year.

After a staff member takes a leave of the absence staff member shall be restored to:

The Board shall permit the staff member to continue his/her health care benefits during the leave at the staff member's expense.

Any support staff member granted a leave of absence shall be considered to have terminated all work with the Corporation until completion of the leave. Exceptions may be made by the Superintendent in cases where the best interests of the Corporation might be served.

*References to Support Staff and Classified Staff are to be considered one-in-the same.

I.C. 22-2-13

I.C. 10-16-7-1 et seq.

38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq. (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act)