Section 16-1-18.1
Accumulation of sick leave.
(a) Definitions. When used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings, respectively:
(1) EMPLOYEE. Any person employed full time as provided by law by those employers enumerated in this section; and adult bus drivers.
(2) EMPLOYER. All public city and county boards of education; the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind; the Alabama Youth Services Department District Board in its capacity as the Board of Education for the Youth Services Department District; the Board of Directors of the Alabama School of Fine Arts; the Board of Trustees of the Alabama High School of Mathematics and Science; for purposes of subsection (c) only, the Alabama State Senate, the Lieutenant Governor, the Office of the Senate President Pro Tempore, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Alabama House of Representatives, the Legislative Reference Service; any organization participating in the Teachers' Retirement System (excluding any state governmental department not listed herein); the State Board of Education as applied to two-year postsecondary education institutions; and for the purposes of subsection (c) only, all four-year public institutions of higher learning.
(3) EXECUTIVE OFFICER. The superintendent of any public county school system or any public city school system; the President of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind; the president of any two-year school or college under the auspices of the State Board of Education; the Superintendent of the Department of Youth Services School District; the Executive Director of the Alabama School of Fine Arts; the Executive Director of the Alabama High School of Mathematics and Science; the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Lieutenant Governor; the Speaker of the House of Representatives; the chief executive officer of any other employer as provided in this section.
(4) SICK LEAVE. The absence from duty by an employee as a result of any of the following:
a. Personal illness or doctor's quarantine.
b. Incapacitating personal injury.
c. Attendance upon an ill member of the employee's immediate family (parent, spouse, child, foster child currently in the care and custody of the employee, sibling); or an individual with a close personal tie.
d. Death in the family of the employee (parent, spouse, child, sibling, parent-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew, niece, grandchild, grandparent, uncle, or aunt).
e. Death, injury, or sickness of another person who has unusually strong personal ties to the employee, such as a person who stood in loco parentis.
(5) ON-THE-JOB INJURY. Any accident or injury to the employee occurring during the performance of duties or when directed or requested by the employer to be on the property of the employer which prevents the employee from working or returning to his or her job.
(b) Sick leave for employees.
(1) EARNINGS. The employee shall earn one sick leave day per month of employment.
(2) REASONS FOR TAKING SICK LEAVE. The employee shall be allowed and authorized to take sick leave for any of the reasons so enumerated and defined in this section.
(3) EMPLOYEE PAY WHILE ON SICK LEAVE. Reimbursement of pay for the employee per day of sick leave shall be at the daily rate of pay for the employee.
(c) Sick leave accumulation and transfers. (1) An employee shall be allowed to accumulate an unlimited number of sick leave days. Earned sick leave days which have been accrued by an employee shall be transferrable from one employer to another. The executive officer of the employer shall take care to ensure that certification of the number of unused sick leave days is provided to the new employer when an employee transfers employment. All of the earned and unused sick leave days which an employee has accumulated shall be transferred to the new employer for use by the employee as provided by law. However, for purposes of applying accrued sick leave as credit for retirement purposes, an employee is limited to a maximum of sick leave as authorized in subdivision (1) of subsection (b). As pertains to receiving retirement credit for accrued sick leave, the Teacher's Board of Control shall have the authority to adopt such policies and procedures necessary to effectuate a uniform policy pursuant to this section.
(2) Employees of the Alabama State Senate, the Lieutenant Governor, the Office of the Senate President Pro Tempore, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Alabama House of Representatives, and the Legislative Reference Service may only accrue unlimited sick leave under this section until January 1, 2013. On January 1, 2013, an employee subject to this section may carry over only the actual number of sick leave hours the employee has or the number allowed under Section 36-26-36, whichever is greater. After January 1, 2013, sick leave earned by an employee subject to this section in excess of the amount determined on January 1, 2013, is subject to Section 36-26-36(d).
(d) On-the-job injury. The following regulations, procedures, and rights are established pertaining to employees who are injured while on the job:
(1) NOTICE OF INJURY. The employee shall make proper notification of the injury to the executive officer (or to the principal of the school, if applicable), within 24 hours after the injury occurred, or where the employee is not clinically able to make notification, it shall be permissible for another person who is reasonably knowledgeable to make the notification of the injury. Other notification procedures and forms shall be as established by written policy of the employer.
(2) PHYSICIAN CERTIFICATION. The employer may require medical certification from the employee's physician that the employee was injured and cannot return to work as a result of the injury. The executive officer may, at his or her discretion, require a second opinion from another physician at the expense of the employer. The employer may require a statement from the physician that there is a reasonable expectation that the employee will be able to return to work. A uniform physician certification form shall be adopted by the State Board of Education and distributed to each executive officer.
(3) SALARY CONTINUED. Upon determination by the executive officer that an employee has been injured on the job and cannot return to work as a result of the injury, the salary and fringe benefits of the employee shall be continued for a period of up to ninety (90) working days consistent with the employee's injury and the subsequent absence from work resulting from the injury. This provision shall apply to the temporary disability of the employee as applicable to the job-related injury.
(4) EXTENSION OF DAYS. The employer may adopt a written policy to extend the 90-day sick leave period for on-the-job injuries. Additional job-injury policies may be adopted by the employer if the policies do not conflict with the section.
(5) REIMBURSEMENT TO EMPLOYER. Any reasonable on-the-job injury costs incurred by the employer (to hire a substitute) per absent injured employee in a fiscal year shall be reimbursed to the employer by the state during the next succeeding fiscal year upon application by the employer to the appropriate State Board of Education department on a form adopted by the state board (not to exceed 90 work days). The department shall subsequently submit the request to the Legislature as a line-item in its budget request for reimbursement to the employer, and, if approved by the Legislature, shall reimburse the employer at the amount per day for sick leave authorized and funded in the annual budget act for public schools and colleges.
(6) EMPLOYEE'S SICK LEAVE. Sick leave shall not be deducted from the employee's account if absence from work is found to be a result of an on-the-job injury as provided in this section.
(7) ADDITIONAL EXPENSES. Any unreimbursed medical expenses and costs which the employee incurs as a result of an on-the-job injury may be filed for reimbursement with the State Board of Adjustment. Reimbursement to the employee shall be determined by the Board of Adjustment's policies, rules, and regulations which may be adopted from time to time. The Board of Adjustment shall adopt appropriate rules, regulations, and forms for submission by the employee.
(8) The executive officer or his or her designee shall inform the employee who is injured on the job of his or her rights about appearing before the Board of Adjustment and also about applicable written policies within thirty (30) calendar days of notification of the injury.
(e) Vacations and leaves of absences. The employer shall have the authority, under the rules and regulations promulgated from time to time by the State Board of Education, to provide for paid leaves of absences and vacations for its employees. Payment may be from public funds. The employer may provide for leaves of absence during the times the schools are, or are not, in session when the teacher or employee devotes the leave to instructing in or attending schools for appropriate training, or when approved by the State Board of Education as beneficial to the state's educational objectives. The employer may also provide for the payment of any full-time teachers or employees for absences during the time schools are in session when the absence results from an unavoidable cause which prevents the teacher or employee from discharging his or her duties. Pay for the absences resulting from unavoidable causes other than sickness shall not be allowed for a longer time than one week during any one scholastic year.
(f) Postsecondary annual leave. As applied to postsecondary employers, any employee who earns and accumulates annual leave shall be entitled to accumulate up to 60 days of annual leave at a rate not to exceed that in the policy established by the State Board of Education.
(g) Policies. The policies and procedures required and permitted by this section shall be adopted by the employer consistent with and as required by Section 16-1-30.
(Acts 1994, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 94-825, p. 154, §§1, 2; Acts 1996, No. 96-614, p. 973, §1; Act 99-578, p. 1303, §1; Act 2001-671, p. 1406, §1; Act 2012-376, p. 938, §1.)