161.155 Definitions for section -- Salary, benefits, and leave for employee or
2,699 words·~12 min read·
/ky/161-155A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
teacher when victim of assault -- Sick leave for employee or teacher -- Sick
leave bank -- Sick leave donation program -- Maternity leave -- Payment for
unused sick leave upon retirement or death -- Funding allocation -- Report.
(1)As used in this section:
(a)"Assault" shall mean an act that intentionally causes injury so significant that
the victim is determined to be, by certification of a physician or surgeon duly
qualified under KRS Chapter 342, incapable of performing the duties of his or
her job;
(b)"Employee" shall mean any person, other than a teacher, employed in the
public schools, whether on a full or part-time basis;
(c)"Immediate family" shall mean the teacher's or employee's spouse, children
including stepchildren and foster children, grandchildren, daughters-in-law
and sons-in law, brothers and sisters, parents and spouse's parents, and
grandparents and spouse's grandparents, without reference to the location or
residence of said relative, and any other blood relative who resides in the
teacher's or employee's home;
(d)"Sick leave bank" shall mean an aggregation of sick leave days contributed by
teachers or employees for use by teachers or employees who have exhausted
all sick leave and other available paid leave days; and
(e)"Teacher" shall mean any person for whom certification is required as a basis
of employment in the common schools of the state.
(2)Each district board of education shall allow to each teacher and full-time employee
in its common school system not less than ten
(10)days of sick leave during each
school year, without deduction of salary. Sick leave shall be granted to a teacher or
employee if he or she presents a personal statement or a certificate of a physician
stating that the teacher or employee was ill, that the teacher or employee was absent
for the purpose of attending to a member of his or her immediate family who was
ill, or for the purpose of mourning a member of his or her immediate family. The
ten
(10)days of sick leave granted in this subsection may be taken by a teacher or
employee on any ten
(10)days of the school year and shall be granted in addition to
accumulated sick leave days that have been credited to the teacher or employee
under the provisions of subsection
(4)of this section.
(3)A school district shall coordinate among the income and benefits from workers'
compensation, temporary disability retirement, and district payroll and benefits so
that there is no loss of income or benefits to a teacher or employee for work time
lost because of an assault while performing the teacher's or employee's assigned
duties for a period of up to one
(1)year after the assault. In the event a teacher or
employee suffers an assault while performing his or her assigned duties that results
in injuries that qualify the teacher or employee for workers' compensation benefits,
the district shall provide leave to the teacher or employee for up to one
(1)year
after the assault with no loss of income or benefits under the following conditions:
(a)The district shall pay the salary of the teacher or employee between the time
of the assault and the time the teacher's or employee's workers' compensation
income benefits take effect, or the time the teacher or employee is certified to
return to work by a physician or surgeon duly qualified under KRS Chapter
342, whichever is sooner;
(b)The district shall pay, for up to one
(1)year from the time of the assault, the
difference between the salary of the teacher or employee and any workers'
compensation income benefits received by the teacher or employee resulting
from the assault. Payments by the district shall include payments for
intermittent work time missed as a result of the assault during the one
(1)year
period. If the teacher's or employee's workers' compensation income benefits
cease during the one
(1)year period after the assault, the district shall also
cease to make payments under this paragraph;
(c)The Commonwealth, through the Kentucky Department of Education, shall
make the employer's health insurance contribution during the period that the
district makes payments under paragraphs
(a)and
(b)of this subsection;
(d)The Commonwealth, through the Kentucky Department of Education, shall
make the employer's contribution to the retirement system in which the
teacher or employee is a member during the period that the district makes
payments under paragraphs
(a)and
(b)of this subsection; and
(e)Payments to a teacher or employee under paragraphs
(a)and
(b)of this
subsection shall be coordinated with workers' compensation benefits under
KRS Chapter 342, disability retirement benefits for teachers under KRS
161.661 to 161.663, and disability retirement benefits for employees under
KRS 61.600 to 61.621 and 78.5522, 78.5524, 78.5526, 78.5528, and 78.5530
so that the teacher or employee receives income equivalent to his or her full
contracted salary, but in no event shall the combined payments exceed one
hundred percent (100%) of the teacher's or employee's full contracted salary.
(4)Days of sick leave not taken by an employee or a teacher during any school year
shall accumulate without limitation and be credited to that employee or teacher.
Accumulated sick leave may be taken in any school year. Any district board of
education may, in its discretion, allow employees or teachers in its common school
system sick leave in excess of the number of days prescribed in this section and
may allow school district employees and teachers to use up to three
(3)days' sick
leave per school year for emergency leave pursuant to KRS 161.152(3). Any
accumulated sick leave days credited to an employee or a teacher shall remain so
credited in the event he or she transfers his or her place of employment from one
school district to another within the state or to the Kentucky Department of
Education or transfers from the Department of Education to a school district.
(5)Accumulated days of sick leave shall be granted to a teacher or employee if, prior to
the opening day of the school year, a statement or a certificate of a physician is
presented to the district board of education, stating that the teacher or employee is
unable to commence his or her duties on the opening day of the school year, but
will be able to assume his or her duties within a period of time that the board
determines to be reasonable.
(6)Any school teacher or employee may repurchase previously used sick leave days
with the concurrence of the local school board by paying to the district an amount
equal to the total of all costs associated with the used sick leave.
(7)A district board of education may adopt a plan for a sick leave bank. The plan may
include limitations upon the number of days a teacher or employee may annually
contribute to the bank and limitations upon the number of days a teacher or
employee may annually draw from the bank. Only those teachers or employees who
contribute to the bank may draw upon the bank. Days contributed will be deducted
from the days available to the contributing teacher or employee. The sick leave
bank shall be administered in accordance with a policy adopted by the board of
education.
(a)A district board of education shall establish a sick leave donation program to
permit teachers or employees to voluntarily contribute sick leave to teachers
or employees in the same school district who are in need of an extended
absence from school. A teacher or employee who has accrued more than
fifteen
(15)days' sick leave may request the board of education to transfer a
designated amount of sick leave to another teacher or employee who is
authorized to receive the sick leave donated. A teacher or employee may not
request an amount of sick leave be donated that reduces his or her sick leave
balance to less than fifteen
(15)days.
(b)A teacher or employee may receive donations of sick leave if:
1. a. The teacher or employee or a member of his or her immediate
family suffers from a medically certified illness, injury,
impairment, or physical or mental condition that has caused or is
likely to cause the teacher or employee to be absent for at least ten
(10)days; or
b. The teacher or employee suffers from a catastrophic loss to his or
her personal or real property, due to either a natural disaster or fire,
that either has caused or will likely cause the employee to be
absent for at least ten
(10)consecutive working days;
2. The teacher's or employee's need for the absence and use of leave are
certified by a licensed physician for leave requested under subparagraph
1.a. of this subsection;
3. The teacher or employee has exhausted his or her accumulated sick
leave, personal leave, and any other leave granted by the school district;
and
4. The teacher or employee has complied with the school district's policies
governing the use of sick leave.
(c)While a teacher or employee is on sick leave provided by this section, he or
she shall be considered a school district employee, and his or her salary,
wages, and other employee benefits shall not be affected.
(d)Any sick leave that remains unused, is not needed by a teacher or employee,
and will not be needed in the future shall be returned to the teacher or
employee donating the sick leave.
(e)The board of education shall adopt policies and procedures necessary to
implement the sick leave donation program.
(a)A teacher or employee may use up to thirty
(30)days of sick leave following
the birth or adoption of a child or children. Additional days may be used when
the need is verified by a physician's statement.
(b)On or before July 1, 2030, each school district shall establish a policy to
provide up to thirty
(30)paid maternity leave days for a teacher or employee
who gives birth to a child. The maternity leave days shall be used without
deduction of salary and shall be used prior to the teacher or employee using
any other leave. Any maternity leave days unused by the teacher or employee
shall not transfer into sick leave or be converted to any other leave type and
shall expire upon return to work. This paragraph shall not limit a school
district's authority to establish additional paid maternity benefits or to provide
paid parental leave benefits.
(a)A district board of education may compensate, at the time of retirement or
upon the death of a member in active contributing status at the time of death
who was eligible to retire by reason of service, an employee or a teacher, or
the estate of an employee or teacher, for each unused sick leave day. The rate
of compensation for each unused sick leave day shall be based on a
percentage of the daily salary rate calculated from the employee's or teacher's
last annual salary, not to exceed thirty percent (30%).
(b)Except as provided in paragraph
(c)of this subsection, payment for unused
sick leave days under this subsection shall be incorporated into the annual
salary of the final year of service for inclusion in the calculation of the
employee's or teacher's retirement allowance only at the time of his or her
initial retirement, provided that the member makes the regular retirement
contribution for members on the sick leave payment. The accumulation of
these days includes unused sick leave days held by the employee or teacher at
the time of implementation of the program.
(c)For a teacher or employee who becomes a nonuniversity member of the
Teachers' Retirement System on or after January 1, 2022, as provided by KRS
161.220, payment for unused sick leave days under this subsection shall not
be incorporated into the annual compensation used to calculate the teacher's or
employee's retirement allowance in the foundational benefit component as
described by KRS 161.633 but may be deposited into the nonuniversity
member's supplemental benefit component as provided by KRS 161.635.
(d)For a teacher or employee who begins employment with a local school district
on or after July 1, 2008, the maximum amount of unused sick leave days a
district board of education may recognize in calculating the payment of
compensation to the teacher or employee under this subsection shall not
exceed three hundred
(300)days.
(e)1. Actuarial costs to the Teachers' Retirement System for the inclusion of
payment for unused sick leave days that are eligible for compensation
under paragraph
(b)of this subsection shall be funded in accordance
with this paragraph.
2. The state shall pay the actuarial costs for the compensation attributable
to the actual unused sick leave accrued as of June 30, 2025, plus annual
adjustments to the sick leave balance each fiscal year thereafter, based
upon the sick leave accrued or used by the teacher or employee, not to
exceed thirteen
(13)additional days per year. Unused sick leave payable
by the state shall not include any annual leave described by KRS
161.540(1)(f) or the cost of unused sick days for employees retiring
from agencies listed in KRS 161.220(4)(d) and (f).
3. The last employer who is compensating the unused sick day as provided
in paragraph
(a)of this subsection shall pay the actuarial costs of
compensation for unused sick leave days not paid by the state under
subparagraph 2. of this paragraph. Upon the teacher's or employee's
retirement, the Teachers' Retirement System shall bill the last employer
for the cost of the unused sick days, and the employer shall pay the costs
within fifteen
(15)days after receiving notification of the cost from the
system.
4. The actuarial costs of the unused sick days shall be the amount payable
for unused sick days after the fixed statutory employee and employer
contributions have been paid as provided in KRS 161.540 and
161.550(1) and that is necessary to fund the benefit.
(f)For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, and each fiscal year thereafter, each
school district shall annually report to the Teachers' Retirement System the
sick leave balances for each teacher and employee who is a member of the
Teachers' Retirement System. The report shall include for each teacher or
employee:
1. The sick leave days accrued at the beginning of the fiscal year;
2. The sick leave days accrued during the fiscal year;
3. Any other days of leave added to the sick leave balance during the fiscal
year by rollover, conversion, or any other method;
4. The sick leave days used during the fiscal year; and
5. The sick leave balance at the end of the fiscal year.
(g)Each school district shall file with the Teachers' Retirement System
information regarding their sick leave policies and provisions that are
applicable to members of the system, including:
1. The number of sick leave days accrued annually under the sick leave
program established pursuant to subsection
(2)of this section;
2. Any other types of leave and the amount of leave by type that may, prior
to retirement or at the time of retirement, be included by rollover,
conversion, or any other method, in an employee's sick leave balance
pursuant to any district policy or any contract entered into by the
district; and
3. Any other information required by the system.
The reporting required by this paragraph shall include a description of
whether the policies or contracts governing sick leave policies apply to all
employees, a class of employees, or a specific employee of the district.
(11)Any statute to the contrary notwithstanding, employees and teachers who
transferred from the Department of Education to a school district, from a school
district to the Department of Education, or from one
(1)school district to another
school district after July 15, 1981, shall receive credit for any unused sick leave to
which the employee or teacher was entitled on the date of transfer. This credit shall
be for the purposes set forth in subsection
(10)of this section.
(12)The death benefit provided in subsection
(10)of this section may be cited as the
Baughn Benefit.