13.0 LEAVE OF ABSENCE

13.1 All leaves of absence are governed by the following general provisions:

13.1.1 Leave requests must be approved by the departmental head.

13.1.2 A request for leave of more than five (5) working days must be made on the prescribed form.

13.1.3 A temporary appointee is limited to a personal leave not to exceed one (1) month.

13.1.4 In the case of parental leave, a permanent employee may extend the leave up to an additional six (6) months, beyond leaves provided by law.

13.1.5 Witness and jury duty leave provisions shall be governed by Civil Service Commission rules.

13.2 Sick Leave with Pay

13.2.1 Employees who work a full year earn thirteen (13) working days per year (104 hours) at a rate of 0.05 hours of leave per hour worked for full‐year employees. Unused sick leave may be accumulated from year to year up to a maximum accumulation of one hundred and thirty (130) working days (1040 hours).

13.2.2 No sick leave with pay is allowed during the first ninety (90) days of employment unless sick leave credits have been earned previously.

13.2.3 Employees must notify their supervisor when they are unable to report for duty because of illness and of the appropriate date of return to work. Sick leave protects loss of income while incapacitated. Sick leave may be used for following reasons:

13.2.3.1 Inability to work because of illness or injury, not job‐incurred.
13.2.3.2 Medical and dental appointments.
13.2.3.3 Absence due to quarantine declared by the Department of Public Health or other authority.
13.2.3.4 Death of an immediate family member or other relatives as defined in section 13.5.
13.2.3.5 Absence due to pregnancy or convalescence period following childbirth.

13.2.4 An employee who is absent for more than five (5) consecutive working days, must submit a statement signed by a doctor, chiropractor, dentist, podiatrist, licensed clinical psychologist or Christian Science practitioner with information sufficient to certify the illness.

13.2.5 In cases of a pattern of alleged leave abuse, a departmental head may require an employee to furnish certification by one of the professionals specified in 13.2.4 for any amount of absence due to illness or require consultation with a district‐approved doctor at district expense.

13.3 ILLNESS DURING VACATION

13.3.1 Employees who are hospitalized, become ill or suffer an accident during a paid vacation which would have necessitated their being absent from normal duties, as certified by the attending physician’s written report, may upon return to duty request that such time be charged against accrued sick leave instead of vacation.

13.3.2 Such requests, along with appropriate documentation, shall be submitted in writing to the appropriate supervisor, and shall not be denied without cause.

13.4 CATASTROPHIC SICK LEAVE TRANSFER PROGRAM

13.4.1 Purpose – The Catastrophic Sick Leave Transfer Program is a resource to provide relief to those classified employees represented by SEIU 1021 who have suffered catastrophic illness or injury. Catastrophic illness or injury means an illness or injury that is expected to incapacitate the employee for an extended period of time, or that incapacitates a member of the employee’s family and requires the employee to take time off from work for an extended period of time to take care of that family member. In order to qualify for the catastrophic sick leave transfer program:
13.4.1.1 All entitled sick leave and extended sick leave and/or any other paid time needs to be exhausted prior to application for sick leave from the bank.
13.4.1.2 The illness or injury must be certified by the attending physician who verifies that the illness or injury lasts for at least 30 days and totally incapacitates the employee (or their family member) from all work.
13.4.2 Eligibility for Participation – All classified members of the bargaining unit represented by SEIU 1021 shall be eligible to participate in the Catastrophic Sick Leave Transfer Program. Recipients are prohibited from working while on Catastrophic Leave.

13.4.2.1 Process

13.4.2.1.1 Recipient:

13.4.2.1.1.1 The recipient must have exhausted all paid leave to receive hours from the bank.

13.4.2.1.1.2 The recipient must apply for participation to the Catastrophic Sick Leave Transfer Program to the Union. Such application shall include medical certification that the illness/injury is catastrophic as defined above.

13.4.2.1.1.3 A classified recipient may receive no more than the average or regularly scheduled number of hours worked daily times 100 from this bank per injury or illness.

13.4.2.1.2 The Union:

13.4.2.1.2.1 SEIU shall inform their membership on a case‐by‐case basis when the need for donated time arises.

13.4.2.1.2.2 SEIU shall be responsible for collecting donated time. Employees shall authorize donations in writing, signed, and dated. SEIU shall compile the list of donated time in order of donations received and a breakdown of how many sick leave and accrued and earned vacation hours members wish to donate, SEIU shall then submit the list to the District along with supporting written authorizations.

13.4.2.1.2.3 Once the first‐round list is receive by the District, no more donations will be added. In the event more donations are needed, the process shall repeat itself.

13.4.2.1.3 The District:

13.4.2.1.3.1 The District will convert the donated hours to dollar amounts, based on the pay rate(s) of the donor workers. Thereafter, the District will deduct the designated sick leave and accrued and earned vacation time from donors, according to the list, and credit it to the worker on leave, according to the pay rate of the worker on leave.

13.4.2.1.3.2 Donated hours shall be utilized in the order received, two (2) hours at a time per donor on a rotating basis as needed. Donated accrued and earned vacation time from all donors shall be utilized first before any donated sick leave is used.

13.4.2.1.3.3 At the completion of the Catastrophic Leave, the District will return to SEIU the original authorization forms that now indicate hours were used and unused per each donor. The Union will be responsible for sharing this balance with donor members.

13.5 Bereavement Leave

13.5.1 The purpose of Bereavement Leave utilization shall be for absence due to the death of a member of the bargaining unit member’s family. Family shall mean parents, parents of the domestic partner, grandparents, step‐ parents, spouse, domestic partner, children of the unit member, adopted child of the unit member, step‐children of the unit ember, siblings of the unit member, parents‐in‐law, son‐in‐law and daughter‐in‐law of unit member, grandchildren of the unit member, a child for who the employee has parenting responsibilities, aunt, uncle or any relative of the bargaining unit member living in the immediate household of the bargaining unit member.

13.5.2 Such leave shall not exceed three (3) working days and shall be taken within thirty (30) calendar days after the death unless another arrangement is mutually agreed to by the employee and supervisor; however, two (2) additional working days shall be granted if extended travel is required as a result of the death.

13.5.3 For absence because of the death of any other person to whom the employee may be reasonably deemed to owe respect; leave shall be for not more than one (1) working day; however two (2) additional working days; shall be granted if extended travel is required as a result of the person’s death.

13.6 Family Care and Medical Leave

The San Francisco Unified School District and SEIU, Local 1021 acknowledge the obligation of the District to comply with the Family Medical Leave Act, the California Family Rights Act, and the National Defense Authorization Act, as well as the rules and regulations implementing such laws. Information about applying for FMLA and CFRA leaves can be found on the SFUSD Intranet webpage.

13.6.1 For purposes of this section and consistent with current law, the term “parent” means biological, foster, in‐ law, or adoptive parent, a stepparent, or a legal guardian.

13.6.2 For the purposes of this section and consistent with current law, the term “child,” means a biological, adopted, and foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of an employee standing in loco parentis who is either under eighteen (18) years of age or an adult dependent child.