SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD OF THE

TRANSITIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS

PERSONNEL POLICY

Leaves of Absence
Personal Time Off (PTO)

Regulation #    4620.1

ACCRUAL OF PERSONAL TIME OFF (“PTO”)

All full-time employees may take up to nine (9) days of PTO during each fiscal year (i.e. July 1st to June 30th of each year).  All full-time employees hired on or after July 1 and before October 1 shall be entitled to nine (9) PTO days during the remainder of the first fiscal year of employment.  Full-time employees hired on or after October 1 and before December 31 shall be entitled to six (6) PTO days during the remainder of the first fiscal year of employment.  Full-time employees hired on or after January 1 and by March 31 shall be entitled to four (4) PTO days during the remainder of the first fiscal year of employment.  Full-time employees hired on or after April 1 and by June 30 shall be entitled to two (2) PTO days during the remainder of the first fiscal year of employment.

USE OF ACCRUED PTO DAYS

Employees must provide the immediate supervisor 48 hours’ notice before the date of the leave, except in cases of personal illness, illness of an immediate family member or an emergency.  The District will set forth a schedule of blackouts in which no PTO will be used except for cases of personal illness, illness of an immediate family member or an emergency.  The schedule will be published in advance of the commencement of each school year.

Use of approved PTO will not count adversely on the attendance portion of any performance appraisal, except as otherwise provided herein.

Employees shall not be absent from the job on more than two (2) Mondays and two (2) Fridays during the year, unless such employee can supply the school system with sufficient proof that he/she was unable to report for work on these Mondays or Fridays for reasons related to injury, illness or exposure to contagious disease.  It shall be an abuse of PTO for an employee to use PTO for absences under the auspice of an employee’s own illness or a family member’s illness, when the employee or family member is not actually sick. 

Regular employees receiving PTO for absences on both the work day preceding and the work day following a holiday or holidays shall receive holiday pay.  The absence for the holiday shall not be deducted from the employee’s accrued PTO.

Whenever it becomes apparent to any employee that he/she will be unable to report to work for any reason whatsoever, the employee is responsible for notifying his/her supervisor or another person who has been designated to be notified before the start of work.  Persons designated as needing substitutes are also responsible for contacting the centralized substitute office as soon as the pending absence becomes known.  Failure to make all contacts shall result in an unexcused absence for which the employee will not be paid.

If an employee is absent more than one (1) day in succession, he/she must give the required notification daily, unless the employee knows in advance that he/she would be out more than one (1) day and stated that fact at the time of a prior notification.  The Human Resources Department is open at 7:00 a.m. on school days to receive messages regarding absences of employees who need substitutes.  An automatic answering and recording machine shall record telephone calls of employees reporting absences or returns from absences.  This machine shall be in operation 24 hours per day and seven (7) days per week.

Notification of the intention of an employee to return to work before the original completion date of the requested absence shall be given to the Human Resources Department and to the Principal of the school or immediate supervisor.  Notification must be given to the Human Resources Department and the immediate supervisor before 4:30 p.m. of the day preceding the date of the return.

ABUSE OF PTO

The Superintendent is authorized to investigate, where the circumstances in his discretion warrant, suspected abuse of PTO.  As part of this authority, the Superintendent may require employees to provide written substantiation of a claim of illness, including a physician’s verification.  Employees acknowledge that public employees in the State of Missouri are not permitted to strike or engage in work stoppages.  PTO days shall not be used for work stoppages. 

PAYMENT OF ACCRUED PTO UPON RESIGNATION, TERMINATION AND RETIREMENT

Employees who leave the school system through termination or resignation shall not be entitled to compensation for unused PTO days, nor shall their estate have a claim for payment of unused PTO days in the case of death.

Employees who have unused PTO days at the end of the fiscal year and thereafter shall be paid an amount equal to one (1) hour of base salary for each two (2) full hours of unused PTO time.  Payment shall be made on the first pay day in December following the end of each fiscal year and shall be calculated using the employee’s base salary as of June 30 of the fiscal year immediately preceding the payment.  The employee must be employed by the Board on the payment date or have retired pursuant to the rules for Rule of 85 or normal retirement during the preceding fiscal year and the payment date to receive this benefit.  For retired employees, the pay-out shall be calculated based on the employee’s base salary at the time of retirement and shall be paid at the time of retirement.

RULES FOR EMPLOYEES WITH ACCRUED SICK LEAVE UNDER PRIOR POLICIES 

Employees with accrued Sick Leave days accumulated under prior District policies shall be permitted to maintain or use them, only as previously permitted (See Policy R4621).  No further Sick Leave days may be accumulated, only PTO day as set forth herein.

PAID TIME OFF COMMITTEE

Representatives of the District and Local 420 shall establish a committee.  This committee shall consider paid time off policies, including future policies that may include personal days, sick days, or PTO days.  The goal of the committee shall be to create a program for paid time off that will optimize attendance, incentivize attendance and longevity, reward exemplary attendance, and incentivize continued retention and service to the District.  The committee shall report their findings to the Superintendent or his/her designee(s).

Regulation approved:  March 9, 2009