Common use of Leaves of Absences Clause in Contracts

Leaves of Absences. a. Upon written request by the employee and approval by the Executive Director or designee, a leave of absence with or without pay may be granted to any regular employee for a maximum of six (6) months. In unusual and special circumstances, one extension to a maximum of twelve (12) months in total, including both paid and unpaid leave, and statutory and contract leave may be approved. Leaves are available for the following reasons: (1) Illness or injury, including pregnancy-related disability and family care; (2) Union business; (3) Education or training which will materially benefit the Agency; (4) Parental leave pursuant to Agency policy; or (5) Other personal reasons which do not adversely affect Agency costs or services. b. Any leave of absence granted for medical reasons shall be only for the actual period of illness, disability, or pregnancy-related disability. Any request for a leave of absence longer than the actual period of illness, disability, or pregnancy-related disability, must be approved by the Executive Director based on unusual and special circumstances. c. Unpaid medical leaves of absence may not be granted for absences which can be covered by paid time off accruals, except as provided below: (1) In the event an employee elects to utilize paid leave at the beginning of the leave and thereafter elects either to interrupt the paid leave or exhausts his/her paid leave accruals prior to the end of a medical leave, he/she will be carried on without pay status for the remainder of the authorized leave period. (2) The employee shall not be entitled to selectively intersperse paid leave accruals with unpaid leave for the purpose of accruing benefits or qualifying for Agency insurance contributions. d. Requests for leave of absence for medical, pregnancy and parental leave shall be submitted to the employee's supervisor, the Human Resources Chief, and the Department Head, and shall state specifically the reasons for the leave (insofar as allowed by the law), the date when the leave is to begin, and the probable date of return. e. All other leaves of absence shall be submitted to the supervisor and Department Head and state specifically the reason for the leave, the date it is requested to begin, and the duration and return date. f. A regular employee on leave of absence without pay necessitated by pregnancy, illness or disability, as verified by medical reports, which does not exceed time covered by FMLA, CFRA or other protected absences is eligible to return to his/her position, location, and shift upon request at the completion of such protected absence. g. If a leave of absence with or without pay has been granted in excess of the legally protected duration, or for a period of time which would necessitate a permanent replacement, the employee on leave shall not be returned to the Agency unless a position in the employee's classification is vacant and approved to be filled at the time he/she reports for work. If the position is to be filled on a permanent basis, the employee shall be so advised prior to the leave. h. If there is not such a vacancy in the employee's current classification, he/she shall be placed on a recall list. He/she shall have return rights for the first position in either the employee's current classification or another classification in which he/she held non-probationary regular status and which is either vacant and approved to be filled at the time he/she returns from the leave or which becomes vacant and approved to be filled at a later date. Such return rights shall cease when either he/she is reemployed in his/her current classification or one calendar year after termination of the leave, whichever occurs first. i. The right to recall shall not supersede the recall rights of laid-off senior employees. Disputes on return rights to vacant positions shall be resolved by classification seniority. In no event shall the total period of the approved leave and the period of return right exceed two (2) years. j. If the leave of absence without pay necessitates a temporary replacement, the employee on leave shall be returned to the position he/she vacated upon his/her return to work. k. An employee may be granted an extension of a leave of absence without pay for other than medical reasons by the Executive Director based on unusual and special circumstances. l. Employees who are veterans and/or members of the National Guard shall be entitled to leaves of absence to which they are entitled pursuant to the Military and Veterans Code. m. Employees may not accrue annual or sick leave while on leave of absence without pay. However, employees returning to work following a leave shall retain their unused accumulated sick leave and annual leave balances. n. Approved leaves of absence shall count as service time for the purpose of determining seniority. o. A leave of absence may be revoked by the Executive Director if the reason for granting such leave was misrepresented or has ceased to exist.