Time Off

Board approved calendars delineate reporting days and holidays for Instructional Staff (teachers and paraprofessionals), Cafeteria Staff, Administrative Staff (12-month employees) and Hourly Staff.  

Holidays are built into the Board approved calendars above. Eligibility for holiday pay is established in each employee’s employment contract. 

All eligible hourly SCS employees will receive compensation for up to eight (8) hours of work on all official SCS holidays. The holiday must fall within the employee’s regular work week in order for the employee to receive pay for the holiday. For example, an employee whose regular work year is from September to June would not be eligible for the July 4th holiday; similarly, an employee who normally works a three day schedule consisting of Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays would not be eligible to be paid for Labor Day, which traditionally falls on a Monday. Further, compensation for the holiday is capped at the number of hours the employee would regularly work on such a day, up to the maximum of eight (8) hours.

Employees who are on an unpaid leave of absence or are otherwise absent without pay are not eligible to be paid for holidays. Vendors and independent contractors are only paid on holidays if dictated in their contract.

12-month employees: 6 sick days/contract year; 0 personal days (see vacation days)

10-month employees: 5 sick days/contract year; 2 personal days/contract year

Full-time hourly 12-month employees:6 sick days/contract; 0 personal days; 10 days vacation

Part-time  12-month employees: time will be prorated for employees working 20+ hours/week

SCS trusts that our employees will act with integrity.  Days off accrue over the course of the contract year and can be used by an employee in accordance with the procedures outlined in this handbook. These days are designated for sick time and/or for personal business matters involving special obligations, which cannot be scheduled on non-duty days. Personal/Sick leave may be used for doctor’s visits which cannot be scheduled outside normal work hours or to care for a sick family member, spouse, child or parent. Personal/Sick leave may not be taken for less than one-half of the employee’s normal work day 

The days earned match the length of the workday. Year-round employees may have a different number of days allocated and should refer to their contracts for clarification. Contracts issued after the start of the typical contract year will have a prorated number of days allotted. 

A leave request must be submitted 2 weeks prior to the requested day. Less notice may be acceptable in the event of unforeseen circumstances. In all instances, the request is subject to the approval of the employee’s supervisor who determines that the absence of the employee will not create an unusual hardship at the school site or department affected. In no instance may a supervisor approve leave, other than sick leave, with pay for more than ten percent (10%) of the workforce for which he/she is responsible for on a given day. 

In addition, days may not be used to extend a holiday or any time off. Those days directly preceding and following a holiday or holiday break and the five last days of school are delineated as “black out days” on the employee calendar. Taking a day off during the blackout period is considered a breach of contract and will be reported to the SCS Board of Directors by the Principal. Staff should avoid asking for leave during important school events, testing season and school field trips. If more than two consecutive days are taken at any time that have not been pre-approved, a doctor’s note is required. If a note is not provided, the days will be unpaid.

NOTE:  All full days taken by FT employees must be submitted as 8 hours of leave.  Compensation is determined based on an 8 hour day.  

Unused personal and sick days will roll up to the next contract year as sick days.  Sick days can continue to roll up to a maximum of 30 days. 

• If an employee resigns or is non-renewed at the end of their contract (school year), accumulated days will be paid out at a rate of 50% for all days accumulated. 

• If an employee resigns before the end of the  contract, only those days accumulated in the prior contract years will be paid at a rate of 50% and unused days for the current contract year will be forfeited.  Additionally, upon notice of resignation until an employee's last day of work (the resignation period), an employee is prohibited from using sick and personal leave.  Any time taken off during the resignation period will be unpaid.

• Upon the death of an employee all remaining sick leave will be paid.

• If an employee is terminated for cause or any other reason, no accumulated days will be paid and will instead stand forfeit. 

• If an employee exceeds 30 days of accumulated leave, they will be paid out for any excess days at the end of the contract year. When days are paid out at the end of a contract, they will be paid out at the employee’s current daily rate. 

In addition to the information already provided in this handbook, Personal/Sick leave may also be applied to supplement Workers’ Compensation payments or other types of paid leave up to the level of regular pay. 

SCS employees who work 12 months are eligible for vacation days.  The employee should consult the contract for specific information about vacation days. Submit a leave request.

Approval of Vacation Days

Vacation Day requests must be approved by the employee’s immediate supervisor prior to the absence, unless the absence is unexpected and prior notification is not possible.  Vacation Day requests will not be granted for days that conflict with essential job responsibilities.  

Overuse of Vacation Days

If a staff member uses all Vacation Days allotted, any additional days will be without pay. 

Unused Vacation Days for Salaried Employees

Employees are encouraged to use their Vacation Days time during the fiscal year in which they accrue (August 1 – July 31), however, up to forty (40) hours of accrued but unused Vacation time may be carried forward to the following fiscal year. No more than forty (40) hours may be carried forward into the next year without approval from the Human Resources Subcommittee of the Board of Directors. These requests should only be made for extenuating circumstances.

Employees may roll up to 2 unused vacation days to sick days at the end of the contract year.

Vacation time remaining, in excess of 40 hours at the end of the contract period, will be lost unless there is documentation of prior approval.

Initial Compensation

Hourly rates will be set by the Principal to ensure they are in alignment with the annual budget approved by Governing Board of the School and in accordance with state and federal law. The Principal shall consult comparative rates of pay at local school district(s) in the establishment of the hourly rates to justify the specific amounts set for specific positions based on the job responsibilities of each. 

Vacation Days

All hourly full-time employees are eligible to receive vacation time. Temporary, part-time and PRN employees are not eligible. Employees should consult their contracts for number of vacation days allotted.

Approval of Vacation Days

Requests must be approved by the employee’s immediate supervisor prior to the absence, unless the absence is unexpected– no sick time and prior notification is not possible.  Requests should not be made that interfere with critical times for the position.

Unused Vacation Days for Hourly Employees

Hourly employees are encouraged to use their vacation time during the fiscal year in which it accrues (August 1 – July 31), however, up to forty (40) hours of accrued but unused vacation time may be carried forward to the following fiscal year. No more than forty (40) hours may be carried forward into the next year. 

Overtime Pay

Whether an employee is exempt from or subject to overtime pay (hourly employees) will be determined on a case-by-case basis and will be indicated in the employee’s job description.

Hourly employees may be required to work beyond the regularly scheduled workday or workweek, as necessary. In determining whether hourly employees are entitled to overtime pay, only actual hours worked in a given workday or workweek will be considered. All overtime work must be previously authorized by the Principal. The Organization provides compensation for all overtime hours worked by hourly employees in accordance with applicable state and federal law as follows:

For hourly employees subject to overtime, all hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours in one workweek shall be treated as overtime pursuant to applicable State and Federal laws. Compensation for hours in excess of forty (40) for the workweek shall be paid at a rate of one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay. Workweeks begin each Sunday at 12:01 a.m.

Calculating Overtime for Multiple Positions

In the event an employee works multiple positions for the School and has different rates of pay, if that employee works overtime, the average weekly pay rate will be calculated for that employee in order to calculate time-and-a-half payment for over time.

For example, say an employee worked 30 hours at $12 per hour, and 20 hours at $15 per hour. This would equate to $660 total pay without overtime for 50 hours of work. This means the average pay would be $13.20 for the week. The employee should be paid for 40 hours x $13.20 + 10 hours at 1.5x($13.20) or a total of $726.

This calculation must be completed separately for each week the employee works overtime. 

This leave is available to qualified employees for a maximum period of 12 work weeks of unpaid leave per year. This leave may be used for the birth of the employee’s child; the adoption of a child by the employee; the care for a seriously ill spouse, child, parent; a serious personal health condition; and qualifying exigency leave for families of service members on covered active duty. The employee may also qualify for up to 26 work weeks of unpaid leave to care for a covered service member with a serious injury if the employee is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of the covered servicemember. 

To qualify, the employee must have been employed for a 12 month period and have worked a total of 1250 hours. However, there are exceptions and an employee should contact the Personnel/Human Resources Department for clarification. Also, SCS may require certification in order for an employee to take FMLA leave. You may read more about the FMLA statute at: https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/statutes/fmla.htm 

When possible to do so, the employee should give at least 30 days written notice of his or her intentions to take FMLA leave, It is required to provide the anticipated date of departure and intention to return. Requests to take or extend FMLA leave must be made in writing to the Principal and Board.

The employee must first use any accrued Personal/Sick time available while on FMLA leave. Once these days have been exhausted, the leave shall be unpaid. While on approved FMLA leave, employees continue to be eligible for group health insurance coverage on the same basis as when they were working. Employees will still be required to make premium contributions to their health insurance plan the same as they would if the employee were not on leave. The failure of the employee to make the required contributions to their health insurance plan may result in coverage being dropped. Further, if the employee does not return to work after taking FMLA leave, the employee will be required to reimburse SCS for any health insurance premium contributions made by SCS during the FMLA leave period.

When an employee is called to military service away from SCS (including active duty, active duty training, inactive duty training, full-time National Guard duty or an absence to determine fitness to perform services), the employee shall give at least two weeks (2) advance notice to the SCS Principal. Written notice of military service may include provision of copies of orders or other written documentation with respect to being called to service. If, however, military necessity precludes providing notice or giving notice is otherwise impossible or unreasonable, the employee may have an appropriate military officer provide such notice. 

Employees in the National Guard or Armed Forces Reserve who participate in an annual two-week active duty or training program may apply for a paid short-term military leave of absence provided that such service cannot be scheduled during a school vacation period.

If during regular work hours, an employee is summoned or selected for jury duty, or subpoenaed to testify in a court or administrative case in which the school is a plaintiff or defendant, the employee will continue to be paid for any days the employee would have otherwise worked. Such time off will not count against the employee’s Personal/Sick leave. Please email your jury summons or subpoena to the office manager and submit a leave request. Dismissed jurors are expected to promptly return to their work locations with a letter of juror service. 

In no case shall paid leave be granted for court attendance when an employee is engaged in personal litigation unless the employee uses his or her accrued Personal/Sick leave.

Professional leave with pay for instructional personnel to attend professional development or training may be granted, at the discretion of the Principal.  All requests for professional leave must be pre-approved by the Principal. The Principal may grant professional leave for any member of the instructional staff to attend professional development or receive training during the period of regular employment as long as the meetings and/or training directly relate to the employee’s work duties. Submit a leave request.

A member of the instructional staff who is willfully absent without leave shall forfeit compensation for the time of such absence and his/her contract may be subject to cancellation by the Board. 

Unpaid personal leaves of absence for individual educational or other valid reasons may be requested and are subject to approval by the SCS Board of Directors. Such leaves of absence may not exceed one (1) year. Such requests must be submitted in writing to the SCS Board of Directors no less than (6) months before the anticipated absence and may be approved or denied at the sole discretion of the SCS Board of Directors. 

While on an approved, unpaid leave of absence, employees are required to pay the entire cost of all insurance plans, including the organization paid portion in order for coverage to continue. The appropriate person(s), agencies, and/or organizations must receive payment by the first of each month. Insurance coverage will be canceled for nonpayment if full payment is not received by the due date. When an employee is on an approved, paid leave, the employee is responsible only for payment of the portion of premium(s) the employee normally pays. Nonpayment of premiums will result in cancellation of coverage.

Suspension Without Pay: While on suspension without pay, an employee is considered to be on unpaid leave of absence. As such, the employee is entitled to maintain insurance coverage by paying the total cost of insurance. If the employee elects to continue insurance and is reinstated, the employee will be refunded the organization contribution paid during the period of suspension. If the employee elects to continue insurance and is not reinstated, the insurance will terminate the last day of the month in which the employee is dismissed. If the employee chooses not to continue insurance and is reinstated, insurance will be reinstated the first of the month following the date of the final order and the employee will be responsible for any regular employee contributions. 

Any  employee  who  suffers  the  death  of  an  immediate  family  member  shall  be  eligible for bereavement  leave  upon  request  for  bereavement  purposes.  Immediate  family  for  bereavement shall be  defined  as spouse, child,  grandchild,  mother,  father,  step  father,  step  mother,  sister,  brother, grandparents and in-laws of such.   Proof of relationship to the deceased may be required.

Three days are permitted for bereavement leave.  Additional time for this will be reviewed on a case by case basis by the Principal. Submit a leave request.