H. B. 3067


(By Delegates Staton and Browning)

[Introduced February 19, 2003; referred to the

Committee on Education.]





A BILL to amend and reenact sections ten and ten-c, article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, all relating to mandating that county boards of education establish personal leave banks which allow board employees to donate personal leave to be used by fellow board employees who are absent from work because of accident or illness, or who are absent while acting as care givers.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections ten and ten-c, article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-10. Personal leave for illness and other causes; leave banks; substitutes.

At the beginning of the employment term, any full-time employee of a county board of education shall be entitled annually to at least one and one-half days personal leave for each employment month or major fraction thereof in the employee's employment term. Unused leave shall be accumulative without limitation and shall be transferable within the state. A change in job assignment during the school year shall in no way affect the employee's rights or benefits.
A regular full-time employee who is absent from assigned duties due to accident, sickness, death in the immediate family, or life threatening illness of the employee's spouse, parents or child, or other cause authorized or approved by the board, shall be paid the full salary from his regular budgeted salary appropriation during the period which such the employee is absent, but not to exceed the total amount of leave to which such the employee is entitled: Provided, That each such employee shall be permitted three days of such leave annually, which may be taken without regard to the cause for the absence, except that personal leave without cause may not be taken on consecutive work days unless authorized or approved by the employee's principal or immediate supervisor, as the case may be: Provided, however, That notice of such a leave day shall be given to the employee's principal or immediate supervisor, as the case may be, at least twenty-four hours in advance, except that in the case of sudden and unexpected circumstances, such the notice shall be given as soon as reasonably practicable; however, the use of such the day may be denied if, at the time notice is given, either fifteen percent of the employees or three employees, whichever is greater, under the supervision of the principal or immediate supervisor, as the case may be, have previously notified the principal or immediate supervisor of their intention to use that day for such leave: Provided further, That such leave shall not be used in connection with a concerted work stoppage or strike. Where the cause for leave had its origin prior to the beginning of the employment term, the employee shall be paid for time lost after the start of the employment term. If an employee should use personal leave which the employee has not yet accumulated on a monthly basis and subsequently leave the employment, the employee shall be required to reimburse the board for the salary or wages paid to him for such the unaccumulated leave.
Prior to the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, the state board shall establish rules, effective on said date, to restrict the payment of personal leave benefits and the charging of personal leave time used to an employee receiving a workers' compensation benefit from a claim filed against and billed to the employee's board. If an employee is awarded such the benefit, such the employee shall receive personal leave compensation only to the extent such that compensation is required, when added to the workers' compensation benefit, to equal the amount of compensation regularly paid such the employee. If personal leave compensation equal to the employee's regular pay is paid prior to the award of the workers' compensation benefit, such the amount which, when added to the benefit, is in excess of the employee's regular pay shall be deducted from the employee's subsequent pay. The employee's accrued personal leave days shall be charged only for such the days as equal the amount of personal leave compensation required to compensate the employee at the employee's regular rate of pay.
The board may establish reasonable rules for reporting and verification of absences for cause; and if any error in reporting absences should occur, it shall have authority to make necessary salary adjustments in the next pay after the employee has returned to duty or in the final pay if the absence should occur during the last month of the employment term.
A county board of education may shall establish a personal leave bank or banks to which employees may contribute no more than two days of personal leave per school year: Provided, That such bank or banks be established either jointly or separately for both professional personnel and school service personnel and that a bank be available to all school personnel. Such The personal leave bank shall be established and operated pursuant to rules adopted by the county board: Provided, however, That such rules may limit the maximum number of days used by an employee, shall require that leave bank days be used only by an active employee with less than five days accumulated personal leave who is absent from work due to accident or illness of such the employee, and shall prohibit the use of such the days with the extension of insurance coverage pursuant to section twelve, article sixteen, chapter five of this code. Such The rules shall require that contributions shall reduce, to the extent of such the contribution, the number of personal leave days to which an employee is entitled by this section: Provided further, That such the contribution shall not reduce personal leave days without cause to which an employee is entitled. No employee may be compelled to contribute to such a personal leave bank.
When an allowable absence does not directly affect the instruction of the pupils or when a substitute employee may not be required because of the nature of the work and the duration of the cause for the allowable absence of the regular employee, the administration, subject to board approval, may use its discretion as to the need for a substitute where limited absence may prevail.
If funds in any fiscal year, including transfers, are insufficient to pay the full cost of substitutes for meeting the provisions of this section, the remainder shall be paid on or before the thirty-first day of August from the budget of the next fiscal year.
Any board of education shall have authority to supplement such the leave provisions in any manner it may deem advisable in accordance with applicable rules of the state board and the provisions of this chapter and chapter eighteen of this code.
 §18A-4-10c. Personal leave banks for care givers.
(a) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Care giver" means any employee of a county board who:
(A) Is a spouse, child or parent of any employee who meets the following qualifications:
(i) He or she is an employee of the same county board of education as the care giver; and
(ii) He or she currently is eligible to receive benefits from the personal leave bank established in section ten of this article; or
(B) Is a parent of a dependent child who is suffering from a catastrophic illness or injury;
(2) "Catastrophic illness or injury" means a medical or physical condition that incapacitates a family member of the care giver and results in the care giver being required to take time off from work as defined by the rules of the board to care for the family member.
(b) A county board of education may shall establish a personal leave bank for care givers which is separate from any personal leave bank as defined in section ten of this article. The personal leave bank shall be operated pursuant to rules adopted by the county board which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) An employee may contribute no more than two days of personal leave per school year;
(2) The bank shall be established either jointly or separately for both professional personnel and school service personnel and shall be available to all school personnel;
(3) The rules may limit the maximum number of days used by a care giver;
(4) Where the care giver is caring for an absent employee as defined in paragraph (A), subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section, the rules shall require that leave bank days be used only by a care giver who is absent from work during the same time period as the absent employee for whom care is being provided; and
(5) The rules shall require that the care giver is an active employee with less than five days accumulated personal leave.
(c) The use of these days by the care giver for the extension of insurance coverage pursuant to section twelve, article sixteen, chapter five of this code is prohibited.
(d) Contributions shall reduce, to the extent of the contribution, the number of personal leave days to which a contributing employee is entitled by section ten of this article: Provided, That the employee's contribution may not reduce the number of entitled personal leave days without cause.
(e) No employee may be compelled to contribute to a personal leave bank.


NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to mandate that county boards of education establish personal leave banks which allow board employees to donate personal leave to be used by fellow board employees who are absent from work because of accident or illness, or who are absent while acting as care givers. Current law gives county boards of education the option of establishing personal leave banks, but does not require it.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.