As a member of the Supplemental Sick Leave Bank, an employee may receive a benefit of as many as 30 days during the program plan year. Employees may apply for benefits as many times as the need arises, as long as the total number of days used does not exceed the 30-day benefit limit per year. The Supplemental Sick Leave Bank is not an accumulation of leave banks; therefore the employee must have exhausted all accumulated vacation, state and local leave prior to applying for benefits.

 

The SSLB program does not grant an employee any type of official leave status and consequently does not offer job protection. However, employees may also be eligible for additional HISD benefits made available by the Family Medical Leave Act, Long Term Disability Insurance, and Workers Compensation Insurance. You must contact the specific program administrators for more details:

 

Benefit / Insurance	HISD Department	Phone Number
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)	Leave Administration	713-556-6590
Long Term Disability Insurance	Benefits	713-556-6655
Workers' Compensation	Benefits	713-556-9200

 

The Supplemental Sick Leave Bank (SSLB) and the Family Medical Leave (FML) programs are entirely separate programs which are administered by different departments in HISD. The Supplemental Sick Leave Bank program falls under the control of the Benefits department while the Family Medical Leave program falls under the control of Human Resources. The Supplemental Sick Leave Bank program is a membership based program which requires employees to actively enroll to become eligible for benefits, whereas the Family Medical Leave program is available to an employee who has worked for the District for at least 12 months and for 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months. As a result, certain employees are eligible to apply for the Family Medical Leave program but only members can apply for benefits from the Supplemental Sick Leave Bank. Employees are strongly encouraged, but not required, to apply for both programs.

 

The Supplemental Sick Leave Bank and the Family Medical Leave programs are governed by different policies and regulations. Consequently the requirements to have an application approved under each program differ. Employees may qualify for one, both, or neither program. For example, an employee may be approved for days from the Supplemental Sick Leave Bank but not be approved for Family Medical Leave. Family Medical Leave can be used for time off to care for family members. The SSLB program does not extend coverage for time off to care for family members and only covers absences due to the member's illness or condition.