Article 7. Leaves Of Absence of California Education Code >> Division 7. >> Title 3. >> Part 51. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 7.

In specifying or defining the rights of employees in Section 87746, "war" means "war" as defined in Section 22804.

Governing boards of community college districts may grant leaves of absence to persons employed in academic positions.

When any provision of this code expressly authorizes or requires the governing board of a community college district to grant a leave of absence for any purpose or for any period of time to persons employed in academic positions, that express authorization or requirement does not deprive the governing board of the power to grant leaves of absence with or without pay to those employees for other purposes or for other periods of time, so long as the governing board does not deprive any employee of any leave of absence to which he or she is entitled by law.

The governing board of a community college district may provide for the leave of absence from duty and may grant compensation during the leave of absence to any employee of the district who is employed in an academic position and who is compelled to absent himself or herself from his or her duties because of accident or illness, whether or not the cause of absence arises out of and in the course of the employment of the employee, or because of quarantine which results from his or her contact with other persons having a contagious disease while performing his or her duties, or because of temporary inability to perform the services required of him or her because of illness, accident, or quarantine.

The governing board of a community college district shall provide for leave of absence from duty for any academic employee of the district who is required to be absent from duties because of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and recovery therefrom. The length of the leave of absence, including the date on which the leave shall commence and the date on which the employee shall resume duties, shall be determined by the employee and the employee's physician. Disabilities caused or contributed to by pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and recovery therefrom are, for all job-related purposes, temporary disabilities and shall be treated as such under any health or temporary disability insurance or sick leave plan available in connection with employment by any school district. Except as provided herein, written and unwritten employment policies and practices of a community college district shall be applied to disability due to pregnancy or childbirth on the same terms and conditions applied to other temporary disabilities. This section shall be construed as requiring the governing board of a community college district to grant leave with pay only when it is necessary to do so in order that leaves of absence for disabilities caused or contributed to by pregnancy, miscarriage, or childbirth be treated the same as leaves for illness, injury, or disability.

The governing board of a community college district may grant any employee of the district employed in an academic position, a leave of absence not to exceed one year for the purpose of permitting study or travel by the employee which will benefit the schools and students of the district. The governing board may provide that such a leave of absence be taken in separate six-month periods or separate quarters rather than for a continuous one-year period, provided that the leave of absence for both of the separate six-month periods or any or all quarters shall be commenced and completed within a three-year period. Any period of service by the individual intervening between the two separate six-month periods or separate quarters of the leave of absence shall comprise a part of the service required for a subsequent leave of absence.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the governing board of any community college district may grant a leave of absence under Section 87767 to any academic employee who has rendered service to the district for at least six consecutive years preceding the granting of the leave, but not more than one such leave of absence shall be granted in each six-year period. The governing board granting the leave of absence may prescribe the standards of service which shall entitle the employee to the leave of absence. No absence from the service of the district under a leave of absence, other than a leave of absence granted pursuant to Section 87767, granted by the governing board of the district shall be deemed a break in the continuity of service required by this section, and the period of the absence shall not be included as service in computing the six consecutive years of service required by this section. Service under a national recognized fellowship or foundation approved by the board of governors, for a period of not more than one year, for research, teaching or lecturing shall not be deemed a break in continuity of service, and the period of the absence shall be included in computing the six consecutive years of service required by this section.

The governing board of a community college district shall grant to any employee, upon request, a leave of absence without loss of compensation for the purpose of enabling the employee to serve as an elected officer of any local community college district public employee organization, or of any statewide or national public employee organization with which the local organization is affiliated. The leave shall include, but is not limited to, absence for purposes of attendance by the employee at periodic, stated, special, or regular meetings of the body of the organization on which the employee serves as an officer. Compensation during the leave shall include retirement fund contributions required of the community college district as employer. Required retirement contributions shall include the amount necessary to pay any unfunded liability cost for the retirement plan. The employee shall earn full service credit during the leave of absence and shall pay member contributions as prescribed by Section 22901. The maximum amount of the service credit earned shall not exceed 12 years. Any employee who serves as a full-time officer of a public employee organization shall not be eligible for disability benefits under the State Teachers' Retirement System while on the leave of absence. Following the community college district's payment of the employee for the leave of absence, the community college district shall be reimbursed by the employee organization of which the employee is an elected officer for all compensation paid the employee on account of the leave. Reimbursement by the employee organization shall be made within 10 days after its receipt of the community college district's certification of payment of compensation to the employee. The leave of absence without loss of compensation provided for by this section is in addition to the released time without loss of compensation granted to representatives of an exclusive representative by subdivision (c) of Section 3543.1 of the Government Code.

Every employee granted a leave of absence pursuant to Section 87767 may be required to perform such services during the leave as the governing board of the district and the employee may agree upon in writing, and the employee shall receive such compensation during the period of the leave as the governing board and the employee may agree upon in writing, which compensation shall be not less than the difference between the salary of the employee on leave and the salary of a substitute employee in the position which the employee held prior to the granting of the leave. However, in lieu of such difference, the board may pay one-half of the salary of the employee on leave or any additional amount up to and including the full salary of the employee on leave.

An employee granted a leave of absence pursuant to Section 87767 or 87768 may agree in writing with the governing board of the community college district not to receive compensation during the period of the leave.

Every employee, as a condition to being granted a leave of absence pursuant to Section 87767, shall agree in writing to render a period of service in the employ of the governing board of the district following his or her return from the leave of absence which is equal to twice the period of the leave. Compensation granted by the governing board to the employee on leave for less than one year may be paid during the first year of service rendered in the employ of the governing board following the return of the employee from the leave of absence or, in the event that the leave is for a period of one year, the compensation may be paid in two equal annual installments during the first two years of service following the return of the employee. The compensation shall be paid the employee while on the leave of absence in the same manner as if the employee were teaching in the district, upon the furnishing by the employee of a suitable bond indemnifying the governing board of the district against loss in the event that the employee fails to render the agreed upon period of service in the employ of the governing board following the return of the employee from the leave of absence. The bond shall be exonerated in event the failure of the employee to return and render the agreed upon period of service is caused by the death or physical or mental disability of the employee. If the governing board finds, and by resolution declares, that the interests of the district will be protected by the written agreement of the employee to return to the service of the district and render the agreed upon period of service therein following his or her return from the leave, the governing board may waive the furnishing of the bond and pay the employee on leave in the same manner as though a bond is furnished.

If the employee does not serve for the entire period of service agreed upon under Section 87770, the amount of compensation paid for the leave of absence shall be reduced by an amount which bears the same proportion to the total compensation as the amount of time which was not served bears to the total amount of time agreed upon. If the employee furnished an indemnity bond, upon default, the proceeds of the bond shall be divided between the employee and the community college district in the same proportion as the actual amount of time served bears to the amount of time agreed upon.

At the expiration of the leave of absence of the employee, the employee, unless he or she otherwise agrees, shall be reinstated in the position held by him or her at the time of the granting of the leave of absence.

Both the governing board of a community college district and the district shall be freed from any liability for the payment of any compensation or damages provided by law for the death or injury of any employee of the district employed in an academic position when the death or injury occurs while the employee is on any leave of absence granted under the provisions of Sections 87763 to 87779, inclusive.

No leave of absence when granted to a contract employee shall be construed as a break in the continuity of service required for the classification of the employee as tenure. However, time spent on any unpaid leave of absence shall not be included in computing the service required as a prerequisite to attainment of, or eligibility for, tenure.

Whenever any permanent or probationary employee of a high school district is employed by a community college district pursuant to Section 87462 or 87464 such employee shall be entitled to retain all sickness and injury, sabbatical and other leave rights accumulated by service prior to such employment and the district shall recognize and grant such rights, including any accumulated rights allowed by the governing board of the high school district, as fully as if there was no change in the community college district.

When a community college or other place of employment shall have been transferred from one district to another, any academic employees who transfer with the school or other place of employment shall be entitled to retain all sickness and injury, sabbatical and other leave rights accumulated by service prior to the transfer and the district to which the school or other place of employment has been transferred shall recognize or grant those rights, including any accumulated rights allowed by the governing board of the district from which the school or other place of employment was transferred, as fully as if there had been no change in the district maintaining the school or other place of employment.

When a person employed in an academic position is absent from his or her duties on account of illness or accident for a period of five school months or less, whether or not the absence arises out of or in the course of the employment of the employee, the amount deducted from the salary due the employee for any month in which the absence occurs shall not exceed the sum that is actually paid a temporary employee employed to fill his or her position during his or her absence or, if no temporary employee was employed, the amount that would have been paid to the temporary employee had he or she been employed. The community college district shall make every reasonable effort to secure the services of a temporary employee. The governing board of every community college district shall adopt a salary schedule for temporary employees. The salary schedule shall indicate a salary for a temporary employee for all categories or classes of academic employees of the district. Except in a district where the governing board has adopted a salary schedule for temporary employees of the district, the amount paid the temporary employee during any month shall be less than the salary due the employee absent from his or her duties. When a person employed in an academic position is absent from his or her duties on account of illness for a period of more than five school months, or when a person is absent from his or her duties for a cause other than illness, the amount deducted from the salary due the person for the month in which the absence occurs shall be determined according to the rules and regulations established by the governing board of the district. These rules and regulations shall not conflict with rules and regulations of the board of governors. Nothing in this section shall be construed to deprive any district, city, or city and county of the right to make any reasonable rule for the regulation of accident or sick leave or cumulative accident or sick leave without loss of salary for academic employees. This section shall be applicable whether or not the absence from duty is by reason of a leave of absence granted by the governing board of the employing district.

(a) (1) Every academic employee employed five days a week by a community college district shall be entitled to 10 days' leave of absence for illness or injury and any additional days in addition thereto that the governing board may allow for illness or injury, exclusive of all days he or she is not required to render service to the district, with full pay for a college year of service.
  (2) An employee employed for less than five schooldays a week shall be entitled, for a college year of service, to that proportion of 10 days' leave of absence for illness or injury as the number of days he or she is employed per week bears to five, and is entitled to those additional days in addition thereto as the governing board may allow for illness or injury to academic employees employed for less than five schooldays per week. Pay for any day of those absences shall be the same as the pay that would have been received had the employee served during the day.
  (b) Credit for leave of absence need not be accrued prior to taking leave by the employee, and the leave of absence may be taken at any time during the college year. If the employee does not take the full amount of leave allowed in any school year under this section, the amount not taken shall be accumulated from year to year with additional days as the governing board may allow.
  (c) The governing board of each community college district shall adopt rules and regulations requiring and prescribing the manner of proof of illness or injury for the purposes of this section. These rules and regulations shall not discriminate against evidence of treatment and the need therefor by the practice of the religion of any well-recognized church or denomination.
  (d) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to modify or repeal any provision in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 120175) of Part 1 of Division 105 of the Health and Safety Code.
  (e) Section 87780 does not apply to the first 10 days of absence on account of illness or accident of any employee employed five days per week or to the proportion of 10 days of absence to which the employee employed less than five days per week is entitled hereunder on account of illness or accident or to additional days granted by the governing board. Any employee shall have the right to utilize sick leave provided for in this section and the benefit provided by Section 87780 for absences necessitated by pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and recovery therefrom.

The governing board of a community college district may adopt rules permitting academic employees of the district to use leave earned pursuant to Section 87781 in cases of compelling personal importance. Leave taken pursuant to this section, together with any leave taken pursuant to Section 87784, shall not exceed six days in any single school year.

(a) An academic employee of a community college district who has been an employee of that district for a period of one school year or more shall have transferred with him or her to a second district the total amount of leave of absence for illness or injury to which he or she is entitled under Section 87781 in any of the following circumstances:
  (1) The person accepts an academic position in a school district or community college district at any time during the second or any succeeding school year of his or her employment with the first district.
  (2) The person, within the three school years succeeding the school year in which the employment in the first district is terminated, signifies acceptance of his or her election or employment in an academic position in another district.
  (3) The person, prior to the expiration of a period greater than three years during which the employee's reemployment rights are in effect under a local bargaining agreement in the first district, signifies acceptance of his or her election or employment in an academic position in another district.
  (b) The board of governors shall adopt rules and regulations prescribing the manner in which the first district shall certify to the second district the total amount of leave of absence for illness or injury to be transferred. No governing board shall adopt any policy or rule, written or unwritten, that requires any employee transferring to its district to waive any part or all of the leave of absence that he or she may be entitled to have transferred in accordance with this section.

Any academic employee of a community college district who accepts a position requiring certification qualifications in the office of any county superintendent of schools; or, any certificated employee of any county superintendent of schools who accepts an academic position in a community college district or office of another county superintendent of schools; or, any person employed by the board of governors in a position requiring certification qualifications or an employee of the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges who accepts an academic position in a community college district or a position requiring certification qualifications in the office of any county superintendent of schools; or, any certificated employee of the Commission for Teacher Preparation and Licensing who accepts an academic position in any community college district; shall have transferred with him or her to the second position his or her accumulated leave of absence for illness or injury. The amount of leave to be transferred shall be determined in the same manner as provided in Section 87782. All other provisions of Section 87782 shall also apply to the employees and employers described in this section.

Any days of leave of absence for illness or injury allowed pursuant to Section 87781 may be used by the employee, at his election, in cases of personal necessity. The governing board of each community college district shall adopt rules and regulations requiring and prescribing the manner of proof of personal necessity for purposes of this section. The employee shall not be required to secure advance permission for leave taken for any of the following reasons:
  (a) Death or serious illness of a member of his immediate family.
  (b) Accident, involving his person or property, or the person or property of a member of his immediate family. No such accumulated leave in excess of six (6) days may be used in any school year for the purposes enumerated in this section.

(a) An academic employee may take up to 30 days of leave in a school year, less any days of leave authorized pursuant to Sections 87781.5 and 87784, in either of the following circumstances:
  (1) A biological parent may use leave pursuant to this section within the first year of his or her infant's birth.
  (2) A nonbiological parent may use leave pursuant to this section within the first year of legally adopting a child.
  (b) If the provisions of this section are in conflict with the terms of a collective bargaining agreement in effect before January 1, 2015, the provisions of this section do not apply to the public employer and public employees subject to that agreement until the expiration or renewal of the agreement.

Any person employed by a community college district, in an academic position who accepts a professional education position in the chancellor's office of the California community colleges, the appointment to which is, or is intended to become, permanent, shall have transferred with him or her to the chancellor's office of the California community colleges his accumulated leave of absence for illness or injury. The amount of leave to be transferred shall be determined in the same manner as provided in Section 87782, except in no case may the transferred accumulated sick leave exceed that amount of accumulated sick leave that the person would have earned as an employee in the system to which he or she is transferring. All other provisions of Section 87782 shall also apply to the employees and employers described in this section.

Section 87780 shall not apply to any community college district which adopts and maintains in effect a rule which provides that when a person employed in an adacemic position is absent from his or her duties on account of illness or accident for a period of five school months or less whether or not the absence arises out of or in the course of the employment of the employee, he or she shall receive 50 percent or more of his or her regular salary during the period of the absence and nothing in Section 87780 shall be construed as preventing the governing board of any district from adopting any such rule. Notwithstanding the foregoing, when a person employed in an academic position is absent from his or her duties on account of illness for a period of more than five school months, or when a person is absent from his or her duties for a cause other than illness, the amount deducted from the salary due him or her for the month in which the absence occurs shall be determined according to the rules and regulations established by the governing board of the district. These rules and regulations shall not conflict with rules and regulations of the board of governors. Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to deprive any district, city, or city and county of the right to make any reasonable rule for the regulation of accident or sick leave or cumulative accident or sick leave without loss of salary for academic employees. This section shall be applicable whether or not the absence from duty is by reason of a leave of absence granted by the governing board of the employing district.

(a) The governing board of a community college district shall provide by rules and regulations for industrial accident and illness leaves of absence for all academic employees. The governing board of a district that is created or whose boundaries or status is changed by an action to organize or reorganize districts completed after January 1, 1976, shall provide by rules and regulations for those leaves of absence on or before the date on which the organization or reorganization of the district becomes effective.
  (b) The rules or regulations shall include all of the following provisions:
  (1) Allowable leave shall be for not less than 60 days during which the schools of the district are required to be in session or when the employee would otherwise have been performing work for the district in any one fiscal year for the same accident.
  (2) Allowable leave shall not be accumulated from year to year.
  (3) Industrial accident or illness leave shall commence on the first day of absence.
  (4) (A) When an academic employee is absent from his or her duties on account of an industrial accident or illness, the employee shall be paid the portion of the salary due him or her for any month in which the absence occurs as, when added to his or her temporary disability indemnity under Division 4 (commencing with Section 3200) or Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 6100) of the Labor Code, will result in a payment to the employee of not more than his or her full salary.
  (B) The phrase "full salary," as utilized in this subdivision, shall be computed so that it shall not be less than the employee's "average weekly earnings" as that phrase is utilized in Section 4453 of the Labor Code. For purposes of this section, however, the maximum and minimum average weekly earnings set forth in Section 4453 of the Labor Code shall otherwise not be deemed applicable.
  (5) Industrial accident or illness leave shall be reduced by one day for each day of authorized absence regardless of a temporary disability indemnity award.
  (6) When an industrial accident or illness leave overlaps into the next fiscal year, the employee shall be entitled to only the amount of unused leave due him or her for the same illness or injury.
  (c) Upon termination of the industrial accident or illness leave, the employee shall be entitled to the benefits provided in Sections 87780, 87781 and 87786, and, for the purposes of each of these sections, his or her absence shall be deemed to have commenced on the date of termination of the industrial accident or illness leave. However, if the employee continues to receive temporary disability indemnity, he or she may elect to take as much of his or her accumulated sick leave which, when added to his or her temporary disability indemnity, will result in a payment to the employee of not more than his or her full salary.
  (d) The governing board of a district, by rule or regulation, may provide for additional leave of absence for industrial accident or illness as it deems appropriate.
  (e) During a paid leave of absence, the employee may endorse to the district the temporary disability indemnity checks received on account of his or her industrial accident or illness. The district, in turn, shall issue the employee appropriate salary warrants for payment of the employee's salary and shall deduct normal retirement, other authorized contributions, and the temporary disability indemnity, if any, actually paid to and retained by the employee for periods covered by the salary warrants.
  (f) In the absence of rules and regulations adopted by the governing board of a district pursuant to this section, an employee shall be entitled to industrial accident or illness leave as provided in this section but without limitation as to the number of days of leave.

Every person employed by a community college district in an academic position is entitled to a leave of absence, not to exceed three days, or five days if out-of-state travel is required, on account of the death of any member of his or her immediate family. No deduction shall be made from the salary of the employee or shall the leave be deducted from leave granted by other sections of this code or provided by the governing board of the district. The governing board may enlarge the benefits of this section and may expand the class of relatives listed below as members of the immediate family. Members of the immediate family, as used in this section, means the mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, or a grandchild of the employee or of the spouse of the employee, and the spouse, son, son-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, brother, or sister of the employee, or any relative living in the immediate household of the employee.

The governing board of a community college district may grant a leave of absence to any academic employee who has applied for disability allowance, not to exceed 30 days beyond final determination of the disability allowance by the State Teachers' Retirement System. If the employee is determined to be eligible for the disability allowance by the system, the leave shall be extended for the term of disability, but not more than 39 months. Governing boards of community college districts shall classify as temporary employees those persons employed to fill vacancies caused by the absence of academic employees who are classified as permanent and are receiving a disability or insurance allowance or benefit from the system or from a group insurance plan for which the employer is paying the cost or deducting the cost from the employees' salaries. For purposes of this section, the term of employment of the temporary employee shall be equal to the number of days of absence of the employee receiving the disability allowance. If the term of employment extends beyond this period, the employee shall be credited for all days served as a probationary employee.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, except Part 13 (commencing with Section 22000), the governing body of a community college district may adopt a workload balancing program for academic employees, under which time worked in excess of that required for a full-time position is banked and an equivalent paid leave of absence is granted in a subsequent quarter, semester, or academic year.