Sec. 22.003. MINIMUM PERSONAL LEAVE PROGRAM. (a) A state minimum personal leave program consisting of five days per year personal leave with no limit on accumulation and transferable among districts shall be provided for school district employees. School districts may provide additional personal leave beyond this minimum. The board of trustees of a school district may adopt a policy governing an employee's use of personal leave granted under this subsection, except that the policy may not restrict:
(1) the purposes for which the leave may be used; or
(2) the order in which an employee may use the state minimum personal leave and any additional personal leave provided by the school district.
(b) In addition to all other days of leave provided by this section or by the school district, an employee of a school district who is physically assaulted during the performance of the employee's regular duties is entitled to the number of days of leave necessary to recuperate from all physical injuries sustained as a result of the assault. At the request of an employee, the school district must immediately assign an employee to assault leave and, on investigation of the claim, may change the assault leave status and charge the leave against the employee's accrued personal leave or against an employee's pay if insufficient accrued personal leave is available. Days of leave taken under this subsection may not be deducted from accrued personal leave. The period provided by this subsection may not extend more than two years beyond the date of the assault. Notwithstanding any other law, assault leave policy benefits due to an employee shall be coordinated with temporary income benefits due from workers' compensation so that the employee's total compensation from temporary income benefits and assault leave policy benefits equals 100 percent of the employee's weekly rate of pay.
(c) For purposes of Subsection (b), an employee of a school district is physically assaulted if the person engaging in the conduct causing injury to the employee:
(1) could be prosecuted for assault; or
(2) could not be prosecuted for assault only because the person's age or mental capacity makes the person a nonresponsible person for purposes of criminal liability.
(c-1) Any informational handbook a school district provides to employees in an electronic or paper form or makes available by posting on the district website must include notification of an employee's rights under Subsection (b) in the relevant section of the handbook. Any form used by a school district through which an employee may request leave under this section must include assault leave under Subsection (b) as an option.
(d) A school district employee with available personal leave under this section is entitled to use the leave for compensation during a term of active military service. This subsection applies to any personal or sick leave available under former law or provided by local policy of a school district, including a home-rule school district.
(e) A school district, including a home-rule school district, may adopt a policy providing for the paid leave of absence of employees taking leave for active military service as part of the consideration of employment by the district.
(f) A public school employee who retains any sick leave accumulated under former Section 13.904(a), as that section existed on January 1, 1995, is entitled to use the sick leave provided under that section or the personal leave provided under Subsection (a) in any order to the extent that the leave the employee uses is appropriate to the purpose of the leave.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 936, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1015, Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 971, Sec. 2, eff. June 20, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 19 (S.B. 522), Sec. 1, eff. May 12, 2009.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 379 (H.B. 1470), Sec. 1, eff. June 19, 2009.
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