Common use of Discretionary Unpaid Leaves of Absence Clause in Contracts

Discretionary Unpaid Leaves of Absence. Discretionary unpaid leaves of absence may be granted, denied or limited in number at the discretion of the Employer or its designees as follows: A. Temporary leave for salary savings purposes provided that this leave shall not exceed 60 consecutive calendar days at any one time and that an appointing authority shall not hire a replacement for an employee on salary savings leave. This leave is to be used only when fiscal concerns of management warrant the granting of such leave. An employee on salary savings leave shall, if otherwise eligible, continue to accrue vacation leave, sick leave, and seniority and shall continue to be eligible for paid holidays and insurance benefits provided that any holidays pay shall be included in the first paycheck received following the employee's return from leave. B. Personal leave for a period of up to one year, subject to extension at the appointing authority's discretion. The appointing authority may require that the employee exhaust vacation leave prior to use of leave without pay for personal leaves of less than 10 working days. An employee may terminate his/her leave of absence prior to the previously agreed upon date of the leave with the approval of the appointing authority. Leaves of absence or extensions of leaves which are subject to the discretionary authority of the appointing authority may be canceled by an appointing authority upon reasonable notice to the employee. Such notice shall ordinarily be in writing except in case of emergency. An employee returning from a leave of absence of two months or more shall notify his/her appointing authority at least two weeks prior to the intended date of return. An employee may return from an approved leave of absence to a vacant position in the same class and district. An employee returning from an unpaid leave of absence shall return to the same rate of pay s/he had been receiving at the time the leave commenced plus any non-discretionary adjustments that would have been granted had the employee been continuously employed during the period of absence, or at a higher rate with the approval of the appointing authority. Upon return from an unpaid non-medical or non-military leave of absence of more than one full pay period in length, the leave accrual date, performance review date, and District Seniority date shall be adjusted to reflect the length of the leave. Failure to return at the expiration of the leave or to contact the Appointing Authority about an extension prior to the end of the approved leave shall be deemed to be a voluntary resignation.