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Handbook of Operating Procedures
  • Policy Process

    • Handbook of Operating Procedures
    Chapter 4 - Personnel General
    Publication Date: August 21, 2023
    Policy Reviewed Date:August 21, 2023
    Policy Owner: VP for Business Affairs


    4.34 Family Leave Pool

    I. POLICY STATEMENT

    Pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 661.022, the University of Texas at San Antonio is required to establish a program to allow a University of Texas at San Antonio eligible employees to voluntarily transfer previously earned sick, vacation, or floating holiday leave to a family leave pool and is required to adopt rules and prescribe procedures relating to the operation of the pool.  

    II. RATIONALE

    This policy ensures compliance with the Board of Regents’ Rules and Regulation 30204, Family Leave Pool.  This pool is established to provide a source of additional leave for those employees who have exhausted all accrued leave and meet the specific Family Leave Pool criteria, provided in section VIII.

    III. SCOPE

    1. The purpose of the family leave pool is to provide eligible employees an additional leave option and flexibility to:
      1. bond with and care for a child within the first year following birth, adoption or foster placement; and  
      2. care for themselves or their immediate family members due to a serious illness, including a pandemic-related illness or complications caused by a pandemic. 

    IV. WEBSITE ADDRESS FOR THIS POLICY

    http://www.utsa.edu/hop/chapter4/4.34.html

    V. RELATED STATUTES, POLICIES, REQUIREMENTS OR STANDARDS

    1. University of Texas System Policies or the Board of Regents' Rules & Regulation
      1. Board of Regents’ Rules & Regulations Rule 30201, Leave Policies
      2. Board of Regents’ Rules & Regulations Rule 30204, Family Leave Pool 
    2. Federal Statutes
      1. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
      2. Board of Regents’ Rules & Regulations Rule 30204, Family Leave Pool 
    3. State Statutes
      1. Texas Government Code Chapter 661.022 2.
      2. Texas Government Code Chapter 662
      3. Texas Government Code Chapter 664
      4. Texas Education Code Section 51.961
    4. UTSA HOP Policies
      1. UTSA HOP 4.26 Sick Leave Pool
      2. UTSA HOP 4.20 Authorized Leave
      3. UTSA HOP 9.15 Campus Closure Due to Weather or Safety Considerations
      4. UTSA HOP 3.06 Probationary Period for Classified Employees
    5. Other Policies and Standards
      1. UTSA People Excellence Leave Administration Webpage

    VI. CONTACTS

    If you have any questions about HOP 4.34, Family Leave Pool, contact the following office:

    1. People Excellence
      210-458-4250
      HR@utsa.edu

    VII. DEFINITIONS

    1. Benefits-Eligible Employee: An employee who is eligible to be a member of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), or Optional Retirement Package (ORP) and required to work at least 20 hours per week, or appointed to at least 50% of a full-time appointment, for a period of at least four and one-half months (18 weeks) and not employed in a position for which student status is required as a condition of the employment.
    2. Immediate family: An individual related by kinship, adoption, or marriage that lives in the same household, a foster child of the employee who resides in the employee's household and is under the conservatorship of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, and a minor child of the employee regardless of whether the child lives in the same household;
    3. Pool Administrator: The person appointed to administer the family leave pool at UTSA.
    4. Family leave pool or Pool: The accumulation of sick leave or vacation donated by leave-eligible employees for utilization in accordance with this policy.

    VIII. RESPONSIBILITIES

    1. Benefits-eligible Employee
      1. Contribution of hours:
        1. Contributions must be in units of eight (8) hours. Employees are permitted to contribute an unlimited number of hours to a family leave pool.
        2. Employees may donate one or more days of accrued sick, or vacation leave to the family leave pool at any time. Donated leave will be deducted from the employee’s balance and added to the pool.
        3. At the time of a donor’s donation to the Family Leave Pool, the amount of the leave donated is fixed and definite. Upon the donation, the donor gives up all rights to the donated leave and has no further rights to such leave.
        4. A retiring employee has the option to contribute accrued sick or vacation leave hours to the family leave pools as well as designate accrued sick or vacation leave to be used for retirement credit. The retiring employee has the discretion to designate the amount of accrued leave to be used for each purpose.
        5. Donated leave may not be designated to a particular person.
        6. The dollar value of donated leave will be included in the donor’s income by UT San Antonio based on the donor’s compensation rate at the time of donation and may be taxable.
      2. Withdrawal of leave:
        1. An employee is eligible to use time contributed to a family leave pool if the employee has exhausted the employee’s eligible compensatory, sick, vacation leave, and, if applicable, short-term/long-term disability because of:
          1. the birth of a child;
          2. the placement of a foster child or adoption of a child under 18 years of age;
          3. the placement of any person 18 years of age or older requiring guardianship;
          4. a serious illness to an immediate family member or the employee, including a pandemic-related illness;
          5. an extenuating circumstance created by an ongoing pandemic, including providing essential care to a family member; or
          6. a previous donation of time to the pool.
        2. Must submit an application form. This must be accompanied by a statement from the treating licensed practitioner (see IX.A.1 below).
          1. If a Pool Administrator determines an employee is eligible, the administrator shall approve the transfer of time from the pool to the employee and credit the time to the employee. The Pool Administrator reserves the right to determine the amount of time awarded from the pool, and to limit those awards based upon the pool’s available balance. Time transfer will be made in eight (8) hour increments. In no event shall the family leave allocated to an eligible employee from the pool exceed ninety (90) days or one-third (1/3) of the family leave pool balance, whichever is less.
    2. Pool Administrator
      1. Make decisions consistent with policies and procedures.
      2. Adopt forms appropriate for the administration of this policy.
      3. Credit the family leave pool with the amount of time donated by an employee and deduct a corresponding amount from the donor’s earned leave.
      4. Process all applications on a first come first serve basis.
      5. Upon approval of an application, determine and notify the amount of time to be transferred from the pool to the recipient.
      6. Coordinate with Payroll Services to tax the donor based on number of hours donated and current compensation rate, if applicable.
    3. Budget & Financial Planning
      1. Assigning Funding Source
        1. People Excellence will notify Budget & Financial Planning with the recipient’s employee ID, name, , position number, and the total number of hours approved.
        2. Using the employee’s ID and current position, a funding source will be identified
        3. A funding record will be added to the Department Budget Table to assign the appropriate family leave pool earnings code and cost center to ensure the costs are charged to a central source.
        4. Budget will respond to Leave Administration and Payroll with the funding source and earnings code.
      2. Reconciliation of the funding sources will be prepared at the end of the fiscal year.
      3. A tracking log and appropriate documentation related to funding will be maintained in the Budget & Financial Planning Office.

    IX. PROCEDURES


    1. Donation of Leave to the Family Pool
      1. Employees may submit the Family Leave Pool Donation Form to the Leave Pool Administrator (Pool Administrator) to donate leave.
      2. The Leave Pool Administrator will process the form and add the balance to the available amount in the pool.
      3. If applicable, the Leave Pool Administrator will contact Financial Affairs:
        1. Email is sent to the Budget Office for processing
        2. Upon Budget review and emailed approval, the email is forwarded to Payroll for processing on the next check of the  donor.
    2. Withdrawal of Leave from Family Leave Pool
      1. A Benefits-eligible employee may submit the Family Leave Pool Request Form to withdraw leave from the pool to the Leave Pool Administrator (Pool Administrator); to include supporting documentation as described below:
        1. An employee who applies to use time to care for another person under Section III.a must submit and be listed on the other person’s birth certificate, birth facts, or adoption or foster paperwork for a child under 18 years of age, including being listed as the mother, father, adoptive parent, foster parent, or partner of the child’s mother, adoptive parent, or foster parent or must provide documentation that the employee is the guardian of a person who is 18 years of age or older and requiring guardianship.
        2. If an employee is seeking permission to withdraw time because of a serious illness, including a pandemic-related illness, of an immediate family member of the employee and does not qualify for or has exhausted time available in the sick leave pool, the employee must provide the Pool Administrator with a written statement from the licensed practitioner who is treating the employee or the employee’s immediate family member.
        3. If an employee is seeking permission to withdraw time because of an extenuating circumstance created by an ongoing pandemic, including providing essential care to a family member, the employee must provide any applicable documentation, including an essential caregiver designation, proof of closure of a school or daycare, or other appropriate documentation.
      2. The Pool Administrator will consider applications in the order in which they are received. Decisions on applications will be made within ten (10) business days after receipt.
      3. Upon approval the Pool Administrator will determine the amount of family leave to be assigned to a Benefits-eligible Employee. Considerations used are as follows:
        1. An employee who applies to use time to care for another person under Section III.a must submit and be listed on the other person’s birth certificate, birth facts, or adoption or foster paperwork for a child under 18 years of age, including being listed as the mother, father, adoptive parent, foster parent, or partner of the child’s mother, adoptive parent, or foster parent or must provide documentation that the employee is the guardian of a person who is 18 years of age or older and requiring guardianship.
        2. If an employee is seeking permission to withdraw time because of a serious illness, including a pandemic-related illness, of an immediate family member of the employee and does not qualify for or has exhausted time available in the sick leave pool, the employee must provide the Pool Administrator with a written statement from the licensed practitioner who is treating the employee or the employee’s immediate family member.
        3. If an employee is seeking permission to withdraw time because of an extenuating circumstance created by an ongoing pandemic, including providing essential care to a family member, the employee must provide any applicable documentation, including an essential caregiver designation, proof of closure of a school or daycare, or other appropriate documentation.
      4. Upon approval and after determining the number of hours to assign, the Pool Administrator will transfer the hours from the pool to the Benefits-eligible Employee.
      5. Once transferred, the Benefits-eligible Employee may use the leave assigned from the pool in the same manner as accrued sick leave. The employee will be treated for all purposes as if they were absent on earned sick leave.
      6. The decision of the Pool Administrator is final and is not subject to an appeal process.
      7. The estate of a deceased employee shall not be entitled to payment for unused sick leave assigned from a family leave pool.

    X. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR INITIAL IMPLEMENTATION

    None

    XI. FORMS AND TOOLS/ONLINE PROCESSES

    1. Family Leave Pool Donation Form
    2. Family Leave Pool Request Form

    XII. APPENDIX

    None

    XIII. Dates Approved/Amended

    08-21-2023