Mountain Views Supervisory Union/School District
Sick Bank Administrative Procedures
Separate Sick Banks have been established for all employees covered by the MVEA or MVEA ESP Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA). The banks provide salary payments for employees who are temporarily disabled, confined to a hospital, or recovering from an injury or illness.
To be considered for use of the sick bank, an employee must qualify under one or more of the general categories listed above.
Pregnancy and normal healing or recovery from delivery (typically 6 -8 weeks) are not considered an illness or injury for granting leave from the Bank unless accompanied by medical complications that extend beyond 6 weeks post-partum (i.e., cesarean section, 8 weeks). Should an employee have less than the approved leave time (60 days) banked with sick and/or personal days, they may apply for up to 15 days. These 15 days cannot extend a maternity/paternity leave beyond allowable FMLA leave. The MVEA bank will allow up to 90 days per year, and the ESP bank will allow 45 days per year to be used for this purpose. Days will be used on a first-come, first-served basis. If the employee experiences medical complications pre- or post-birth, which meet the definition of a serious medical condition, the committee will review requests for sick bank leave upon receipt of a completed application and medical documentation. Days for medical complications pre- or post-birth will not count from the 90 days or 45 days set aside for maternity/paternity leave.
All individual annual and accumulated sick, vacation, and personal leave for employees must be used before days will be awarded from the sick bank. An employee collecting from a bank at the end of a fiscal year and whose disability or injury extends into the following fiscal year must first use their new annual sick, vacation, and personal leave and then reapply to the bank.
A disability or injury will be considered an acceptable reason for awarding days from the sick bank if it will cause the employee to miss 10 consecutive days of work. Additionally, the disability or injury will require that the employee continue to be under a physician’s medical supervision and care. The committee may consider exceptions for fewer than the required number of consecutive days. The committee’s decision will be final.
Disability Insurance:
If the applicant has Short Term Disability (STD), the sick bank can only be used to supplement their disability claim, not replace their disability claim. The applicant must provide documentation verifying their approved STD status and percentage of salary covered. Applicants can apply to have the difference in salary covered by sick bank days. Applicants cannot withdraw sick bank days beyond the approved STD salary/percentage gap. Sick bank leave cannot be used to extend benefits beyond the maximum coverage period allowed under the STD policy. Any misuse or misrepresentation of Sick Bank or STD benefits may result in disciplinary action, including the potential repayment of improperly utilized benefits. Applicants are not required to have STD.
If the applicant has Long Term Disability (LTD), the sick bank can only be used to supplement their disability claim, not replace their disability claim. The applicant must provide documentation verifying their approved LTD status and percentage of salary covered. Applicants can apply to have the difference in salary covered by sick bank days. Applicants cannot withdraw sick bank days beyond the approved LTD salary/percentage gap. Sick bank leave cannot be used to extend benefits beyond the maximum coverage period allowed under the LTD policy. Any misuse or misrepresentation of Sick Bank or LTD benefits may result in disciplinary action, including the potential repayment of improperly utilized benefits. Applicants are not required to have LTD.
An applicant to the sick bank must submit satisfactory proof of disability and/or injury to the Sick Bank Committee as part of the application process. Such proof shall include a physician’s statement attesting to the disability and/or injury. The Supervisory Union reserves the right to request additional medical verification of the employee’s disability, injury, or illness.
Application forms for the Sick Bank may be obtained from the Human Resources page on the MVSU website, located under “Sick Bank”. A joint committee of MVEA and Administrative representatives will administer the sick bank.
Each Sick Bank will have a maximum number of days to accumulate within it. For the MVEA teachers, that number will be approximately 360. For MVEA ESP, that number will be 200. If, during the school year, a bank is drawn down to a number below 100 for MVEA teachers and 100 for MVEA ESP, then the bank of the affected bargaining unit will be reopened for additional voluntary and/or mandatory contributions from employees in the affected bargaining unit.
The total number of leave days (individual sick leave and sick bank days) used does not exceed the number of days in the school year.
Sick Bank applications and all required information are collected by the Human Resources office. Personally identifiable information is removed to maintain anonymity, and requests are forwarded to the committee once all required information is received. The committee considers the following criteria in evaluating each request:
Medical documentation
Total number of sick bank days used does not exceed the number of days in a school year.
Requestors shall receive written notification of the committee’s decision, which shall be final.