GCBD/GDBD-AR – Leaves and Absences- Classified Personnel

All classified leave will be pro rated based on employee’s assigned hours of work..

Notification

All classified staff shall be expected to notify their immediate supervisor no later than 8:00 a.m. on the first day of illness/leave. No employee shall be absent from the building or work to which he/she is assigned during working hours without permission of the superintendent or supervisor, except in cases of emergency.

Emergency Leave

The ESD will allow employees emergency leave without loss of pay as approved by the superintendent.

Bereavement Leave

Upon request, employees shall receive up to five days paid bereavement leave, each case, non-accumulative.

Leave Without Pay

The Board recognizes that personal emergencies may create a desire for leave from the job at times when terms of established leaves do not apply. Therefore, the superintendent at his/her discretion may approve leave without pay limited to circumstances over which the employee has no control. The Board specifically prohibits leave without pay to be used for extending vacations, to alter work schedules established by the school year calendar, or for personal recreation. The Board authorizes the superintendent to make all decisions regarding granting of leaves without pay and imposing penalties. The Board reserves the right to hear appeals requested by employees.

Personal Leave

Personal leave may be authorized where unique circumstances prevent the handling of transactions outside of contract time, and over which the individual does not have control. Upon written request and approval by the superintendent, three days of personal and/or emergency leave will be granted without loss of pay and two days with a loss of pay. Paid personal leave may not be authorized for any recreational use, any matters related to other employment that conflict with contract obligations or to extend a vacation or holiday. Personal leave may be used for doctor appointments and/or illness after sick leave has been exhausted. All personal leave must be pre-approved except in emergency situations and taken in whole or half days.

Sick Leave

Current sick leave shall be granted in accordance with the ORS Chapter 860. Each regular employee will accrue one day sick leave for each month worked. Employees who work less than eight hours will receive a pro-rated share of sick leave credit based on their regular scheduled work day. Employees who have earned sick leave credits shall be eligible for sick leave for any period of absence from employment which is due to the employee’s illness, disability, injury, or necessity for medical or dental care. The district may require the certification of an attending physician or practitioner to support the employees claim if the district believes the employee is abusing sick leave privileges. Current annual sick leave shall accumulate to unlimited days.

Vacation

A year of employment for vacation purposes shall be considered a minimum of 180 consecutive paid days.

All vacation days must be used within six months of the end of the fiscal year (June 30) in which they are earned. Unused days will not be compensated in lieu of time off, except as noted below.

For current employees, total vacation days accrued through June 30 plus days to be earned for the current fiscal year, shall be awarded each July 1, and therefore are available for use.

For newly hired employees, current fiscal year vacation days shall be awarded, in advance, on a pro rata basis from date of hire. However, no vacation days may be used during the probationary period.

Vacation days are to be requested on the Leave Request form.

Requests for days to be used after May 15 are to be discussed with the immediate supervisor and submitted to the district office for approval no later than May 15 annually.

Approval of requests will be based on the following considerations:

1. No more than one classified employee per organizational unit may normally be granted vacation for the same days.
2. Conflicting requests will normally be decided on a seniority basis. Exceptions may be made by the superintendent if a request is untimely or would create a hardship for a less senior employee.
3. A request may not be granted if an employee’s absence at a particular time might result in an unreasonable interruption in the normal work of the department.

Upon termination of employment, the current year’s earned vacation days shall be prorated for the number of months of employment during that year and the employee shall be compensated for any unused vacation balance. If the employee has already used more days than the proration allows, the excess paid vacation days shall be deducted from the employee’s final paycheck.

For 12-month employees, 10 days paid vacation shall be awarded, in addition to paid holidays, in each of the first 5 years of employment. Thereafter, one additional day per year shall be awarded up to a maximum of 20 paid vacation days per year, beginning the 15th year of continuous employment.

The superintendent’s decision shall be final in any disagreements over this policy.