Sick Bank Guidelines

The Sick Bank Committee shall consist of six members; three member of the CamVoc association as elected by the unit (or appointed by the president) and three selected by the Board of Education.

The Sick Bank has been established to provide compensable leave coverage to bargaining unit members who are absent for an extended period due to catastrophic illness or injury of said members. The Bank shall operate in accordance with the following rules and regulations.

A unit member may participate in the Sick Bank if he/she has given written notification of his/her desire to donate a minimum of one (1) sick day during an enrollment period prior to the unit member’s request to utilize the Sick Bank. Each year, the enrollment period shall be from July 1st to September 30th. The contributed sick day(s) will be deducted from the employee’s accumulated sick leave days on September 30th. Unit member contributions shall be voluntary. Each participant may donate a minimum of one (1) and a maximum of five (5) days per enrollment period each school year. No employee shall donate sick days which would cause his/her sick leave to drop below 9 days. The Sick Bank year shall be July 1st thru June 30th of each school year. The Sick Bank shall be available only to those unit members who have:
Donated a minimum of one day to the bank each enrollment period. Exhausted all available paid leave days. Been absent a minimum of twenty-five (25) consecutive workdays.
The committee may or may not award the days and may do so in not more than 40 day segments. Reapplication is necessary for each segment. In an emergency, as determined by the Committee, an open enrollment period will be declared, and all employees covered by this agreement shall have the opportunity to enroll in the Sick Bank. Should a participant at any time of replenishing opt not to re-enroll, such action will constitute a withdrawal from the bank, losing any days thus far contributed. Any participant, once having contributed a day, may in no way retrieve any days thus far contributed. A unit member who is eligible to utilize the Sick Bank must submit a written request to do so to the Sick Bank Committee. The request shall outline the nature of the problem and the reason for the requested use of the Sick Bank and shall include medical verification of the illness, injury or disability. Verification of continued disability will be required at reasonable intervals. Sick Bank days cannot be extended automatically from one work year to another. However, in the event any unit member using the Sick Bank at the end of the work year is still unable to return to work at the beginning of the next work year, that member must first use all of his/her new entitlements (sick days and personal days) for that new year before he/she is approved to continue Sick Bank use. The minimum and maximum numbers of days’ limits still apply. In the event of a tie vote of the Committee, the request will be denied. Only the Committee shall be authorized to grant requests for use of Bank days. The Committee shall schedule meetings as necessary. Written requests by Bank members to the Committee for use of Bank days shall be responded to within 15 work days of receipt. A quorum shall be all six members. Sick Bank days are in addition to any other leaves provided for by law or regulations. Claims for time from the Bank may not be made for illness or injury resulting from a job-related condition which is being treated under a Worker’s Compensation claim. Nothing contained herein shall prohibit the Board from exercising its rights under N.J.S.A. 18A:30-6 (Prolonged Absence Beyond Sick Leave Period). The decisions of the Committee are final and not subject to the grievance procedure and arbitration.