The University of Texas at Tyler Employee Handbook

SICK LEAVE POOL

Withdrawal of Time from the Pool:

An employee eligible to accrue sick leave may apply to use time in the sick leave pool if, because of a catastrophic injury or illness, the employee has exhausted all paid leave entitlement including accrued sick, vacation, holiday and compensatory leave. A catastrophic illness or injury is a severe condition affecting the mental or physical health of an employee or the employee’s immediate family that requires the services of a licensed practitioner for a prolonged period of time. Immediate family is defined as those individuals related by kinship, adoption, marriage or foster children who are so certified by the Texas Department of Human Services, who are living in the same household or, if not in the same household, are totally dependent upon the employee for personal care or services on a continuing basis.

An employee may apply for time in the sick leave pool by completing a Sick Leave Pool Application available in Human Resources. Applications should be completed and returned to Human Resources. Upon receipt of the application, it will be reviewed by Human Resources. The Office of Human Resources will then notify the applicant of the status of his/her request. The department head will also be notified. If the employee does not agree with the decision, he/she may appeal, in writing within five (5) working days of receipt of the decision, to the Director of Human Resources and Chief Administrative Officer. His decision is final.

In no event shall the sick leave allocated to an eligible employee from the pool exceed ninety (90) work days or one-third (1/3) of the pool, whichever is less, per catastrophic illness or injury. Time from the sick leave pool may be used intermittently provided that all paid leave entitlements have been exhausted and the absence is related to the severe condition for which the time was granted. Applications to use pool leave will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Contribution of Time to Sick Leave Pool

An employee may transfer to the pool in eight-hour increments. To contribute to the sick leave pool, an employee must submit a Sick Leave Pool Voluntary Contributions form available in Human Resources.