GBRL-1 Employee Attendance Policy

File:     GBRL-1

Clay County Schools

Employee Attendance Policy

1.      GENERAL

1.1        SCOPE:                     This policy applies to all professional and service employees of the district.

1.2  AUTHORITY:           West Virginia Code §18A-4-10

1.3  FILING DATE:          June 1, 2015

1.4  EFFECTIVE DATE:  July 1, 2015

2.      PHILOSOPHY

The Clay County School System expects employees to be present and on time. Employees who are punctual and come to work regularly set good examples for our students and staff, foster efficiency and effectiveness, and create an environment that is conducive to the “teaching learning” process. The successful operation of Clay County Schools is contingent upon the commitment of all employees to demonstrate punctual attendance during each scheduled workday. Excessive employee absenteeism results in a system that is ineffective, inefficient and not conducive to the teaching learning process.

3.      DEFINITIONS

3.1   Absence – any time away from duty/work

3.2   Absenteeism – absence from duty/work, especially when such absence is deliberate or habitual.

3.3  Abuse of Sick Leave - use of sick leave for reasons other than those defined in this policy. Abuse of sick leave includes, but is not limited to:

                                                              i.      falsely reporting that sick leave is being used for that purpose, when the employee is not actually sick

                                                            ii.      excessive absenteeism, as described in this policy

                                                          iii.      failure to provide medical documentation supporting an absence after two days as described in Board Policy GBRL

                                                          iv.      a pattern of absences of short duration which may be linked with scheduled days off, such as holidays, paydays, weekends or periods of annual leave.

3.4   Scheduled Absence – a planned absence, either authorized or paid where the employee has given at least one day’s notice to the supervisor.

3.5  Authorized Absence – an absence approved by the supervisor and set forth below. Authorized Absences are:

                                                              i.      Any absence with a doctor’s excuse. A doctor’s excuse for any absence must be submitted within five (5) working days from the date the employee returns to work. Failure to provide the doctor’s excuse within five working days from the date the employee returns to work will result in the absence being considered unexcused.

                                                            ii.      Serious medical conditions and other absences covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act

                                                          iii.      Bereavement Leave in accordance with CCS policy

                                                          iv.      Authorized absence due to job related injury or illness 

                                                            v.      Authorized leave of absence

                                                          vi.      Established holidays and pre approved vacations

                                                        vii.      Military Leave

                                                      viii.      Jury Duty/witness subpoena leave

                                                          ix.      Professional leave

                                                            x.      Mandated leave following exposure to contagious diseases

                                                          xi.      Disciplinary action by the employer, i.e. suspension

                                                        xii.      Days without cause (Personal Days), in accordance with CCS policy

                                                      xiii.      Disability leave

                                                      xiv.      Absence for family illness or injury with a doctor’s excuse or other documentation verifying the illness or injury.

3.6  Pattern of absences – Absences occurring in patterns i.e., same day of the week, same time of year, adjacent to a weekend, holiday or other leave, may be indicative of an attendance problem.

3.7  Undocumented absences – absences from work which are not Authorized Absences, including, but not limited to:

                                                              i.      absences from assigned shift when proper reporting procedures have not been used

                                                            ii.      absences not defined as authorized in section 3.5 of this policy.

1. POLICY - RULES OF GOVERNANCE, AND PROCEDURES

Implementation of the staff attendance policy of the Clay County Board of Education shall be in accordance with these provisions:

4.1        An employee will not abuse sick leave or establish a pattern of absences, all as defined in this policy.

4.2        Five (5) normal amount of time an employee may be away from the job and shall serve as the benchmark for absences.

4.3        Anticipated absences should be scheduled five days in advance.  Notice of scheduled absences shall be made by the employee to the supervisor in writing.

4.4         Employee shall not be able to change absences to an exempt leave category after the absence has occurred.

4.5        As provided in Board Policy G05, medical certification shall be required for use of leave attributed to personal illness or other illness which exceeds two (2) consecutive days.

4.6        Six or more undocumented absences within a school year shall result in corrective action, as described in Section 7, PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE / CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUIREMENTS herein.

4.7        Employees may not utilize personal, vacation or other leave days to circumvent the Board Policy requiring a physician’s excuse after two consecutive sick days.  Example: two sick days, one personal day, two sick days. Evidence of a pattern of “chaining” days in this manner will be grounds for a conference, reprimand or denial of payment for the days claimed.

4.8        Supervisors shall require employees to call them personally, except in cases when this is not feasible or practical.  If the supervisor is not available, the employee may report the absence to the supervisor’s designee.

4.9        Emergency situations should be communicated to the supervisor immediately or as soon as possible.

4.10    Any employee who has had five or more undocumented absences in any school year may not be granted any additional professional leave for that school year or the following school year. 

1. EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES

5.1  Employees are expected to report to work on time and remain as scheduled.

5.2  Employees are expected to manage their personal affairs in a manner which will enable them to report to work in a regular and dependable manner.

5.3  Employees are expected to notify supervisory personnel in advance of expected absences from work as early as practicable.

5.4  Employees must report their unscheduled absences to their immediate supervisor prior to the start of the work day, unless an emergency situation dictates otherwise.

1. SUPERVISOR

Each supervisor shall:

6.1  Be responsible for bringing to the attention of employees under his or her jurisdiction the procedures set forth in this policy which have been established to the purpose of providing direction and guidance for reporting employee absences.

6.2  Establish a system for monitoring and recording attendance of staff.

6.3  If an employee’s absence appears to be covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, advise the employee that such coverage is available and provide the employee with appropriate forms to claim such coverage.

6.4  Use regular progressive discipline.

1. PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE/ CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUIREMENTS

7.1     Absences must be monitored and appropriate corrective action promptly applied. The following provisions are applicable: Occurrence in a School Year (July 1 to June 30)

Required Corrective Action -

Fifth (5th) undocumented absence: The school principal and/or assistant principal, or immediate supervisor, will conduct a conference with the employee, and documentation will be maintained by the immediate supervisor.

Sixth (6th) undocumented absence: The school principal and/or assistant principal, or immediate supervisor will conduct a conference with the employee, and documentation will be maintained in the employee’s personnel file; a letter of warning may be written based upon the reasons for the absences; a focus plan or plan of improvement will be implemented if circumstances warrant such a plan.

Seventh (7th) or more undocumented absences:  The school principal and/or assistant principal, or immediate supervisor, and the superintendent, or his/her designee,  will conduct a required conference with the employee, and documentation will be maintained in the employee’s personnel file; a focus plan or plan of improvement will be implemented if circumstances warrant such a plan. 

7.2     Failure of the employee to successfully complete, or abide by the terms of the focus plan or improvement plan may result in disciplinary action including possible suspension and/or termination. 

7.3     When a focus plan or plan of improvement is not appropriate, disciplinary action in the form of an oral and/or written reprimand, suspension, or termination may occur. 

7.4     Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken for abuse of sick leave, absences without proper reporting procedures, and for an unreasonable number of undocumented absences, if appropriate. 

7.5     The Clay County Schools employee has the right to appeal a decision to the next level of authority.

Clay County Board of Education