Glenbard Township High School District 87
Policy 5:185
General Personnel
Family and Medical Leave
Please refer to the “Glenbard Township High School District 87 Contract Between the Board of Education, District 87 and: Building Service Employees’ Union Local 73; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1970; or Glenbard Education Association.”
For employees not covered by this agreement.
Leave Description
Eligible employees may use unpaid family and medical leave, guaranteed by the federal Family and
Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), for up to a combined total of twelve (12) weeks each 12-month
period, which 12-month period shall be measured forward from the date any employee’s first FMLA
leave begins.
During a single 12-month period, an eligible employee's FMLA leave entitlement may be extended to a total of 26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a covered service member (defined herein) with a serious injury or illness. The "single 12-month period' is measured forward from the date the employee's first FMLA leave to care for the covered service member begins.
Other available paid vacation, personal, or family leave will be substituted for family and medical
leave necessitated by birth, adoption/foster care placement, or a family member's serious health
condition. Other available paid vacation, personal, or sick leave will be substituted for family and
medical leave necessitated by a family member's or employee's own serious health condition. Any
substitution required by this policy will count against the employee's family and medical leave
entitlement. The District will pay family leave or sick leave only under circumstances permitted by
the applicable leave plan. Use of family and medical leave shall not preclude the use of other
applicable unpaid leave that will extend the employee's leave beyond 12 weeks, provided that the use
of family and medical leave shall not serve to extend such other unpaid leave.
Family and medical leave is available in one or more of the following instances:
1. The birth and first-year care of a son or daughter;
2. The adoption or foster placement of a child;
3. The serious health condition of an employee's spouse, parent, or child; and
4. The employee's own serious health condition.
5. The existence of a qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee's spouse, child or parent is covered military member on active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty) in support of a contingency operation. A "covered military member" must be either a member of a Reserve component or a retired member of the regular Armed Forces or Reserve. "Qualifying exigencies" exist in the following categories: short-notice deployment, military events and related activities, childcare and school activities, financial and legal arrangements, rest and recuperation, post-deployment activities, and additional activities as provided in the FMLA regulations.
6. To care for the employee's spouse, child, parent, or next of kin who is a covered service member with a serious injury or illness. A "covered service member" is a member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who has a serious treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list.
If spouses are employed by the District, they may together take only 12-weeks for FMLA leaves when the reason for the leave is 1 or 2, above, or to care for a parent with a serious health condition, or a combined total of 26 weeks for item 6 above.
Employees may take an intermittent or reduced-hour family and medical leave when the reason for
the leave is 3 or 4, above, with certain limitations provided by law.
Within 15 calendar days after the Superintendent makes a request, an employee must support a
request for a family and medical leave when the reason for the leave is 3 or 4, above, with a
certificate completed by the employee's or family member's health care provider. Failure to provide
the certification may result in a denial of the leave request.
If both spouses are employed by the District, they may together take only 12-weeks for family and
medical leaves when the reason for the leave is 1 or 2, above, or to care for a sick parent.
Eligibility
To be eligible for family and medical leave, an employee must either:
1. Have been employed by the District for at least 12 months (the 12 months need not be
consecutive) and have been employed for at least 1,250 hours of service during the
12-month period immediately before the beginning of the leave, or
2. Be a full-time classroom teacher.
Notice
If possible, employees must provide at least 30 days' notice to the District of the date when a leave is
to begin. If 30 days' notice is not practicable, the notice must be given within 2 business days of when
the need becomes known to the employee. Employees shall provide at least verbal notice sufficient to
make the District aware that he or she needs a family and medical leave, and the anticipated timing
and duration of the leave. Failure to give the required notice may result in a delay in granting the
requested leave until at least 30 days after the date the employee provides notice.
Continuation of Health Benefits
During a family and medical leave, employees are entitled to continuation of health benefits that
would have been provided if they were working.
Return to Work
An employee returning from a family and medical leave will be given an equivalent position to his or
her position before the leave, subject to the District's reassignment policies and practices.
Classroom teachers may be required to wait to return to work until the next semester in certain
situations as provided by law.
Implementing Procedures
The Superintendent shall develop procedures to implement this policy consistent with the federal
Family and Medical Leave Act.
LEGAL REF.: Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq., 29 C.F.R. Part 825.
CROSS REF.: 5:180, 5:250, 5:330
ADOPTED: December 8, 1997
REVIEWED: November 13, 2006
REVIEWED: June 8, 2009
REVISED: September 14, 2009
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