Leave

Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)

FMLA provides eligible employees with job-protected leave for certain qualifying medical, family, and military-related circumstances.

Eligibility: Employees must have worked for LHISD for at least 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months immediately before leave begins.

Eligible employees may receive up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave during the applicable 12-month period. FMLA is generally unpaid but runs concurrently with applicable paid leave and compensatory time under District policy.

FMLA may apply to the employee's own serious health condition; birth and bonding; adoption or foster placement; care of a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition; qualifying military exigencies; or military caregiver leave.

When foreseeable, contact the Benefits team at least 30 calendar days before leave begins. Medical or other certification may be required.

Temporary Disability Leave

Temporary Disability Leave provides eligible full-time employees with up to 180 consecutive calendar days of job-protected leave when the employee's own medical condition prevents the employee from performing regular duties.

• TDL applies to the employee's own medical condition, including qualifying pregnancy- or childbirth-related conditions.
• Medical certification is required.
• TDL may run concurrently with FMLA and applicable paid leave or compensatory time.
• Once available paid leave is exhausted, the remaining TDL period is unpaid.
• TDL is not intended for intermittent absences.

Return-to-work medical documentation may be required.

Maternity and Paternity Leave

Employees who need time away from work for the birth, adoption, or placement of a child may qualify for FMLA, Temporary Disability Leave, and/or applicable workplace accommodations depending on eligibility and individual circumstances.

Employees should notify the Benefits Department at least 30 days before the anticipated start of leave when possible.

• FMLA: Eligible employees may receive up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave. Bonding leave must be taken within the first year following birth or placement.
• Temporary Disability Leave: May apply to an eligible employee's own medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. Medical certification is required. LHISD provides a maximum of 180 calendar days of TDL.
• Workplace Accommodations: Employees needing accommodations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions should work with the Benefits Department.

Adding a newborn to your health plan: Submit the required enrollment request and documentation within 30 days of birth.

Extended Sick Leave

After exhausting all available paid leave and applicable compensatory time, a full-time employee may receive up to 10 days of Extended Sick Leave per school year for the employee's own catastrophic illness or injury, including a qualifying pregnancy-related illness or injury.

Medical certification is required.

• Professional employees: The District deducts the average daily substitute rate for each day used.
• Nonprofessional employees: The District deducts 30% of the employee's daily rate of pay for each day used.

Catastrophic Sick Leave

LHISD maintains a Catastrophic Sick Leave Bank for participating employees who experience a qualifying catastrophic illness or injury.

A participating employee may request leave from the bank when the employee, spouse, or child experiences a qualifying catastrophic illness or injury and the employee has exhausted all available paid leave.

District procedures establish requirements for membership, contributions, requests, maximum days, and review and approval.

State Personal Leave

Texas public school employees receive five days of state personal leave per year. It accumulates without limit and may transfer between Texas public school districts.

LHISD requires employees to designate state personal leave as either nondiscretionary or discretionary when used.

Nondiscretionary leave is generally used for circumstances that cannot be scheduled in advance, including personal illness, illness of an immediate family member, family emergencies, death in the immediate family, and qualifying leave related to birth, adoption, or foster placement within the first year.

Discretionary leave is for absences that can be scheduled in advance. It may not exceed three consecutive workdays without prior approval from the Superintendent or designee, and additional requirements may apply on blackout days.

State personal leave for the current year is made available at the beginning of the school year and may be prorated for employees who begin after the first duty day or separate before the final duty day.

Local Leave

LHISD provides paid local leave based on the employee's annual work assignment:

• 10-month employees: 5 days per school year
• 11-month employees: 6 days per school year
• 12-month employees: 7 days per school year

Local leave accumulates without limit and follows the same terms and conditions as State Personal Leave, including discretionary and nondiscretionary use requirements.

State Sick Leave

State Sick Leave applies only to employees who have remaining state minimum sick leave accumulated under Texas law before May 30, 1995. It is a legacy balance and is no longer newly earned.

Eligible accumulated State Sick Leave may be used for the employee's illness, illness of an immediate family member, a family emergency, death of an immediate family member, or qualifying military leave.

Bereavement Leave

LHISD provides employees with up to three days of paid bereavement leave following the death of an immediate family member, without loss of pay or deduction from other paid leave balances.

Immediate family includes a spouse; child or child-in-law; parent or parent-in-law; sibling or sibling-in-law; grandparent; grandchild; and any person residing in the employee's household at the time of death, including the additional relationships identified in District policy.

Employees must submit the Bereavement Leave Request Form with documentation such as an obituary, funeral program, death certificate, newspaper article, or similar documentation. Bereavement days do not have to be consecutive.

Assault Leave

An LHISD employee who is physically assaulted while performing regular duties may be eligible for Assault Leave to recover from qualifying physical injuries.

• Provided in addition to other available leave.
• Provides the days necessary to recuperate from qualifying physical injuries.
• Does not deduct days from accrued personal leave when the absence qualifies.
• Must be assigned immediately upon the employee's request, subject to the District's investigation.
• May not extend beyond two years from the date of the assault.
• Is coordinated with applicable workers' compensation temporary income benefits so total compensation does not exceed 100% of the employee's weekly rate of pay.

Following an investigation, the District may change the employee's Assault Leave status if the incident does not qualify.

Jury Duty and Court Appearances

LHISD employees are provided paid leave for jury duty, including grand jury service, without a deduction from accumulated leave.

• Provide documentation of jury service to HR Benefits as soon as it is received.
• Provide documentation showing release from jury duty or the time spent at court.
• Return to work when released if sufficient time remains in the workday, when required.

Paid jury duty hours do not count as hours worked for overtime purposes.

Military Leave

Employees who serve in the military may be eligible for leave and employment protections under state and federal law.

Employees with available personal leave may use that leave to receive compensation during a period of active military service. Additional requirements and protections are governed by applicable law and District policy.

Additional Leave for Eligible Employees

Certain employees may qualify for additional types of leave based on position or circumstances, including mental health leave, quarantine leave, and line-of-duty illness or injury leave for eligible peace officers.

Contact the Benefits team for questions about eligibility, documentation, or which leave type may apply.