The pool is a secondary source of paid sick leave available to full-time employees who have exhausted all other paid leave (i.e. vacation, sick, extenuating circumstances, etc). 

Under the Texas Government Code, Chapter 661, Subchapter A, authorizes the creation and maintenance of a sick leave pool. The DCCCD established Board Policy for the administration of the Catastrophic Sick Leave Pool on November 5, 1991.

The Catastrophic Sick Leave Pool is funded “by employees for employees” and is administered by the District Human Resources office. The sick leave pool continues through the deposits of full-time employees.

Qualified family members include:

This paid leave benefit is available to full-time contractual and non-contractual employees. 

There are a number of qualifying rules, such as:

An employee is eligible to withdraw one time during a plan year (Sept. through Aug.) or beginning from date of hire to the end of the plan year (Aug.). Subsequently requests for time can not be requested again until one year after the employee has returned to work.  

An amount of time that exceeds one-third of the total amount in the pool or a maximum of 90 working days, or up to 12 working days for qualified family members (as a part of, but not in addition to, Sick Leave Day leave), or the amount of any elimination periods/days to qualify for disability, and/or workers compensation benefits under the group insurance program, whichever is less, or an amount equal to the contribution made by the employee.

Making Application to Request Leave
An eligible employee may apply for sick leave pool hours by completing the “Sick Leave Pool Days Application”. An Attending Physician Statement must be attached to the sick leave pool request. If the employee is applying for disability benefits, a copy of the disability form may be attached in lieu of the Attending Physician Statement. The location human resources office provides these forms.  

If the employee is requesting sick leave pool for a qualified family member, the employee must complete the “Sick Leave Pool Days Application” and provide supplemental information as follows:

After review of the request and/or approval of the form by the location, the form is forwarded to the District Director of Human Resources. The form is reviewed for applicable benefits and eligibility. 

If the employee is eligible and approved, the District Director of Human Resources determines the amount of days the employee can withdraw from the pool. The amount of approved days is withdrawn from the sick leave pool and assigned to the employee. The Location is notified of the approval, number of sick leave hours assigned, and shall deduct leave as applicable.

During the sick leave pool period, the employee will continue to accrue leave and benefits in accordance to their job classification. These days should be used up-front and then Sick leave pool is applied.

Returning Unused Sick Leave Pool Days
If the employee does not exhaust the leave during the episode for which sick leave pool was requested, the unused amount is returned to the sick leave pool.  The location human resources office is responsible for notifying the District office when the employee returns to work. The employee upon return to work is not eligible to use unused amounts for an episode related to the original request or another episode during the same plan year, or for intermittent leave.

Contributing to the Pool
Full-time employees may contribute on a voluntary basis from earned sick leave.  Faculty employees contribute to the pool annually from May 1 through June 1 and Professional Support Staff and Full-time administrators contribute annually in August.  The contributions are made by completing the “Sick Leave Pool Contribution” form.

The employee can contribute a maximum of ten (10) days to the pool. This leave will be deducted from the employee’s earned sick leave by District Human Resources.  The sick leave is credited to the pool with the amount of time contributed.

The employee does not have to make application for Family Medical Leave Act until all paid leave and applicable benefits have been exhausted and the employee is on a full month leave without pay and will receive no compensation from the DCCCD.