There shall be established a reserve of sick leave days for restricted use by employees who choose to join the Sick Leave Bank, in cases of emergency or exceptional need.
Said “Sick Leave Bank” shall be established in the following manner:
1. Annually on or before October 15th teachers who wish to join the Sick Leave Bank must sign an agreement to join. The form of the agreement to join will be mutually developed by the T.E.A. and the Board.
2. All teachers shall be eligible for participation in the Sick Leave Bank when first hired or during an open enrollment period.
3. Each teacher who joins the Sick Leave Bank shall make an initial contribution of two (2) sick days from his/her accumulated sick leave. Once contributed the sick days shall not be returned. Only when the number of days in the Sick Leave Bank falls below three hundred (300), each employee who wishes to remain in the Sick Leave Bank must contribute one (1) additional day to maintain coverage.
4. Member shall receive written notification prior to additional required contributions. Members of the Sick Leave Bank may withdraw from coverage by requesting this in writing to the Committee. Eligible employees not in the Sick Leave Bank may also join at this time.
B. The use of days from the Sick Leave Bank shall be closely regulated, and use granted only after approval by a committee composed of five (5) T.E.A. members These Committee members shall be affiliated in good standing with the Sick Leave Bank and shall be approved by the T.E.A. Executive Committee.
The sick days to be awarded from this bank will apply only in cases where all of the individual’s accumulated sick leave has been used. Employees who receive days from the Sick Leave Bank shall be compensated at their regular daily rate of pay.
C. In the event of a reduction in force or termination, accumulated sick leave from the Bank shall not be compensated, but shall remain credited to the Bank.
D. Employees shall be given a written accounting of accumulated sick days each school year by Human Resources.
E. In cases in which sick leave is claimed, the Sick Leave Bank may require a physician’s certificate to be filed with secretary of the Board of Education in order for an employee to obtain sick leave (N.J.S.A. 18A:30-4).