Employee Leave Information

 (DECA Legal Policy) To be eligible for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, you must have worked for Midlothian ISD for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months preceding the need for leave, and be employed at a worksite at which Midlothian ISD employs at least 50 Midlothian ISD employees within a 75-mile radius.

Family Medical Leave allows an employee to be off work for a maximum of 12 work weeks due to a qualifying event.

Family Medical Leave is unpaid leave and runs concurrent with the use of earned leave and temporary disability leave (if employee meets eligibility requirements - DEC Local Policy).

You must use any accrued leave during your unpaid Family Medical Leave covered absence. Midlothian ISD requires you to use Family Medical Leave concurrently with paid leave and temporary disability leave, if applicable. Once all earned leave is exhausted, you will be docked for any remaining days absent.

The district offers two types of leave for employees that do not qualify for Family Medical Leave. See the below FAQs for more information. 

Any full time employee whose position requires educator certification by the State Board for Educator Certification or by the District shall be eligible for Temporary Disability Leave.

(DEC Local Policy) This is for the employee’s own medical condition. The maximum length of temporary disability leave shall be 180 calendar days.
 

All part-time employees who do not meet eligibility requirements for Family Medical Leave as a result of the limited number of hours required for their position and who have been employed for one school year shall be eligible to participate in the District Medical Leave Plan (DEC Local Policy).  The District Medical Leave Plan grants part-time employees the opportunity to receive up to six weeks of unpaid leave concurrently with any other leave to which they may be entitled under other policy provisions.

Employees who expect to be absent for an extended period of time exceeding 5 consecutive days should email Jessica Payne, Leave Specialist, at  jessica.payne@misd.gs or call 469.856.5021 for information on applicable leave benefits.

DEC (Local) The program is designed to aid employees who experience a catastrophic medical condition for themselves or for an immediate family member and who have insufficient leave to meet those circumstances.  

A catastrophic illness, condition, or injury is defined as a life-threatening, acute, and non-work related medical condition that is diagnosed by a licensed medical physician as precluding the employee from working in any manner or in the case of an immediate family member, an acute or prolonged illness, condition or injury that is considered life-threatening and renders the family member so significantly disabled or in need of such care that it prohibits the employee from working. Catastrophic conditions are additionally elaborated upon as follows:

• Life-threatening debilitating illnesses, impairments, or physical conditions that involve treatment in connection with a stay in a hospital, hospice, or other medical or residential facility.
• The Midlothian ISD reserves and retains the right to determine whether the illness or condition meets the foregoing definitions and criteria based on the information it receives from the applicant and his or her medical providers.
• The life-threatening aspect of the medical condition must be validated as a real and substantial risk that is relative to the reasonably foreseeable future. Prolonged conditions that could contribute to death at the end of a normal life expectancy are not considered life-threatening for the purposes of this program.  The risk of death is almost always present when surgical procedures are performed.  That common risk alone is not sufficient to meet the life-threatening criteria.
• Conditions that are determined to be short term or normal/natural experiences are not catastrophic. Such conditions include but are not limited to flu, childhood/adult diseases (measles, mumps, chicken pox, etc.), non-debilitating bone fractures, routine pregnancies/births, etc. 
• Terminal illness.
• Treatments are necessary for a medical condition that is so life-threatening that, if not treated, would likely result in death.

All full-time and permanent part-time employees who have contributed one day (half day for part-time employees) of accumulated local leave as of September 30th of any school year are eligible for CSLB membership. The CSLB is solely for the use of participating employees.

An employee who is a member may request leave from the bank in the event that the employee or an immediate family member experiences a catastrophic illness or a catastrophic injury and the employee has exhausted all paid leave. (See DEC (LOCAL)) for the definition of “Immediate Family.”

Along with the possibility of additional paid leave beyond the days in a member’s leave balance due to a catastrophic illness or catastrophic injury; membership also provides the opportunity for MISD employees to help other CSLB members who are suffering from a catastrophic illness or catastrophic injury.

The Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank Committee is made up of one representative from each campus.  All applications are presented to the committee with names redacted.   The committee reviews each application carefully using the MISD guidelines for consistency and a majority vote determines whether the applicant qualifies for days from the bank. A quorum of at least 14 committee members must be present to vote on CSLB requests.

The CSLB committee meets the second Wednesday of every month at 4:15 p.m. at Central Office.

Hardship Leave is a local benefit adopted in Board Policy DEC (LOCAL) to assist employees in dealing with a hardship resulting from a natural disaster or similar devastating, life-changing event involving the employee or a member of the employee’s immediate family. 

The main purpose of this unpaid leave is to extend job protection and employed status in a similar professional capacity to the employee accessing this leave benefit. However, the district may not contribute to health insurance premiums during this period of unpaid leave, long-term unpaid leave may disqualify employees from eligibility under group health coverage per TRS rules depending on the length of leave, and the employee is not entitled to his/her exact assignment or campus/department upon return.  

Hardship leave may be granted only if the employee is not eligible for, or has exhausted, any other leave (e.g., FMLA leave, temporary disability leave, general medical leave). The Benefits Review Committee        will use the following criteria in evaluating and making decisions to grant/deny requests for hardship leave: 

1. Current District Employee – Hardship leave can be granted to all district employee types if all criteria are met. 

2. Natural Disaster or Similar Devastating Life-Changing Event – The employee or a member of the employee’s immediate family as defined in Board Policy DEC (LOCAL) is experiencing the effects of a natural disaster or similar devastating life-changing event preventing the employee from fulfilling his or her work duties. 

Requests must be submitted, with appropriate documentation, within 15 days of an emergency situation or as soon as a request is needed. Complete the following request form, and a Human Resources representative will be in contact with you to confirm the request.

English Request Form 
Spanish Request Form