Alabama Administrative Code › Title 670 - ALABAMA STATE PERSONNEL BOARD › Chapter 670-X-14 - SICK LEAVE › Section 670-X-14-.01 - Sick Leave

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1)
			 An allowance of four hours and twenty minutes for each semimonthly period of
			 service shall be made for sick leave. Unused portions of such allowance may
			 accumulate but not more than 1200 hours may be carried over beyond the end of
			 the calendar year. Sick leave earned over 1,200 hours that is placed in excess
			 may be used with the approval of the employee's appointing authority and must
			 comply with the guidelines of the State Personnel Department. An employee who
			 retires shall be entitled to be paid for fifty percent of his accumulated sick
			 leave at the time of his or her retirement up to a maximum of 600 hours in his
			 career. Such payment constitutes liquidation of the sick leave balance of the
			 employee.
(a) Neither annual nor sick leave
			 shall accrue except when an employee is actually working or on authorized leave
			 with pay, and in no case shall leave accrue subsequent to actual separation
			 from the service.
(b) Sick leave is
			 hereby defined to mean the absence from duty of an employee because of:
(1) illness;
(2) bodily injury not incurred in line of
			 duty, or bodily injury or occupational illness incurred in line of
			 duty;
(3) attendance upon members of
			 the immediate family whose illness requires the care of such
			 employee;
(4) death in the
			 immediate family of the employee. Immediate family is hereby defined to include
			 spouse or children as defined by the Family and Medical Leave Act,
			 grandchildren, parents or grandparents, sister or brother, mother-in-law,
			 father-in-law, daughter-in-law and son-in-law. Where unusually strong personal
			 ties exist, due to an employee's having been supported or educated by a person
			 of some relationship other than those listed, this relationship may be
			 recognized for leave purposes. In each such case, the employee concerned shall
			 file with his appointing authority a written statement of the circumstances
			 which justify an exception to the general rule.
(c) Sick leave with pay is not a right for
			 which employees may make demand, but a privilege granted in accordance with
			 prescribed rules and regulations, to which the Board may make exceptions as the
			 best interest of the service demand. At the discretion of the appointing
			 authority, employees may be required to maintain a minimum number of sick leave
			 hours.
(d) Either the appointing
			 authority or the Board may require at any time a claim for sick leave be
			 supported by adequate evidence; and any unjustified or fraudulent claim for
			 sick leave may be punished by loss of pay, loss of accumulated leave,
			 suspension and/or dismissal.
(e)
			 Employees shall not be compensated for accumulated sick leave when they are
			 separated from the state service, except in the case of retirement or death.
			 However, if they leave state service in good standing and are reemployed within
			 a period of four years from date of separation, sick leave accumulated during
			 previous employment or any part thereof may be restored upon recommendation by
			 the appointing authority and approval by the Director. Under no circumstance
			 can an employee use sick leave to engage in any other employment during his
			 scheduled working hours.
(f) In
			 case of serious disability or illness, sick leave may be advanced to any
			 permanent employee under the following conditions:
(1) All accrued leave (sick and annual) must
			 be exhausted before a request for an advance is made.
(2) No advance shall be made to any employee
			 unless the absence from duty because of disability is for a period of five days
			 or more.
(3) Each application for an
			 advance shall be supported by a certificate from a health care
			 provider.
(4) The total of advances
			 of sick leave shall not at any time exceed 24 work days.
(g) Employees shall file requests for advance
			 of sick leave with the appointing authority of the department in which they are
			 employed, on forms to be provided by the State Personnel Department. After
			 making such investigations as he deems advisable, the appointing authority
			 shall either approve or disapprove such applications.
(h) Advances of sick leave shall be charged
			 against such leave subsequently accumulated. In the case of separation from the
			 state service of an employee to whom sick leave has been advanced in an amount
			 in excess of that subsequently accumulated, the employee shall be liable for
			 the period of such excess, and a deduction therefor shall be made from any
			 salary due him on the basis of the salary rate obtained during the period of
			 advanced sick leave. If no salary is due such employee from which deductions
			 may be made, or the salary due is insufficient to cover the amount due the
			 state, a written request shall be filed with him asking that the amount due be
			 paid into the state funds from which it was drawn. If he refuses to comply with
			 this request the amount due may be recovered by suit to be filed upon request
			 of the Director. No such employee shall be readmitted to the state service
			 unless he shall first satisfy any or all outstanding claims or liabilities
			 which have accrued against him under the foregoing provisions of this
			 rule.
(i) Transfer of Sick Leave
			 into State Merit System. Persons entering the state merit system may not
			 transfer into the state merit system sick leave accumulated outside the state
			 merit system with the following exceptions:
1.
			 Individuals employed by a non-merit system State entity or agency who maintain
			 a sick leave system in accordance with the procedures established by the Rules
			 of the State Personnel Board may transfer their accumulated sick leave into the
			 state merit system provided the appointing authority approves the acceptance of
			 the leave. The non-merit system state agency or entity must certify the amount
			 of sick leave the employee has accumulated and further certify that the
			 accumulation of sick leave is in accordance with procedures established by the
			 Rules of the State Personnel Board. This provision does not apply to public
			 schools or public postsecondary institutions.
2. Those persons entering the state merit
			 system from the public schools, public postsecondary institutions, or other
			 non-merit entities of the State of Alabama may, upon the recommendation of the
			 appointing authority and approval of the Director, retain a record of
			 accumulated sick leave that may be used only in the case of illness and only at
			 such times that all state merit system sick and annual leave has been
			 exhausted. This rule shall be retroactive to January 1, 2023.