Bill Text: MS HB219 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State employee personal and major medical leave; revise definition of "catastrophe injury or illness" to include mental illness for the purpose of the donation of.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Failed) 2020-03-03 - Died In Committee [HB219 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2020-HB219-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2020 Regular Session
To: Workforce Development
By: Representatives Bell (65th), Dortch, Anthony
House Bill 219
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 25-3-91, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXPAND THE DEFINITION OF "CATASTROPHIC INJURY OR ILLNESS" TO INCLUDE MENTAL ILLNESS FOR THE PURPOSE OF RECEIVING AND DONATING STATE EMPLOYEE PERSONAL LEAVE AND STATE EMPLOYEE MAJOR MEDICAL LEAVE; TO AMEND SECTION 25-3-93, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; TO AMEND SECTION 25-3-95, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT RECIPIENT EMPLOYEES OF DONATED LEAVE OF AGENCIES WITH MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED EMPLOYEES AS OF MARCH 25, 2003, MAY RECEIVE DONATED LEAVE ONLY FROM DONOR EMPLOYEES WITHIN THE SAME AGENCY; TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 25-3-91, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-3-91. For purposes of Sections 25-3-91 through 25-3-99, the following words and terms shall have the meaning described herein, unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Appointing authority" shall mean such person, agency or authority authorized by law to employ individuals in state government, but shall not include the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Industries for the Blind.
(b) "Catastrophic
injury * * *,
physical illness or mental illness" means a life-threatening
injury * * *,
physical illness or mental illness of an employee or a member of an
employee's immediate family which totally incapacitates the employee from work,
as verified by a licensed physician, and forces the employee to exhaust all
leave time earned by that employee, resulting in the loss of compensation from
the state for the employee. Conditions that are short-term in nature,
including, but not limited to, common illnesses such as influenza and the
measles, and common injuries, are not catastrophic. Chronic illnesses or
injuries, such as cancer or major surgery, and mental illness, which
result in intermittent absences from work and which are long-term in nature and
require long recuperation periods may be considered catastrophic.
(c) "Employee" means a person appointed to a position in the state service or nonstate service as defined in Section 25-9-107, for which he is compensated on a full-time permanent or provisional basis, a temporary basis, or a part-time basis. However, in order for an employee to be eligible to receive donated leave, the employee must meet the requirements provided in Section 25-3-95(8).
(d) "Workday" shall mean a day as defined in Section 25-1-98.
(e) "Temporary employment" means the employment of a person in a temporary or time-limited position not to exceed twelve (12) months.
(f) "Part-time employment" means the employment of a person in a part-time position.
SECTION 2. Section 25-3-93, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-3-93. (1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (1)(b), all employees and appointed officers of the State of Mississippi, who are employees as defined in Section 25-3-91, shall be allowed credit for personal leave computed as follows:
Continuous Accrual Rate Accrual Rate
Service (Monthly) (Annually)
1 month to 3 years 12 hours per month 18 days per year
37 months to 8 years 14 hours per month 21 days per year
97 months to 15 years 16 hours per month 24 days per year
Over 15 years 18 hours per month 27 days per year
However, employees who were hired prior to July 1, 1984, who have continuous service of more than five (5) years but not more than eight (8) years shall accrue fifteen (15) hours of personal leave each month.
(b) Temporary employees who work less than a full workweek and part-time employees shall be allowed credit for personal leave computed on a pro rata basis. Faculty members employed by the eight (8) public universities on a nine-month contract, and employees of the public universities who do not contribute to the Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System or the State Institutions of Higher Learning Optional Retirement Program, shall not be eligible for personal leave.
(2) For the purpose of computing credit for personal leave, each appointed officer or employee shall be considered to work not more than five (5) days each week. Leaves of absence granted by the appointing authority for one (1) year or less shall be permitted without forfeiting previously accumulated continuous service. The provisions of this section shall not apply to military leaves of absence. The time for taking personal leave, except when such leave is taken due to an illness, shall be determined by the appointing authority of which such employees are employed.
(3) For the purpose of Sections 25-3-91 through 25-3-99, the earned personal leave of each employee shall be credited monthly after the completion of each calendar month of service, and the appointing authority shall not increase the amount of personal leave to an employee's credit. It shall be unlawful for an appointing authority to grant personal leave in an amount greater than was earned and accumulated by the officer or employee.
(4) Employees are encouraged to use earned personal leave. Personal leave may be used for vacations and personal business as scheduled by the appointing authority and shall be used for illnesses of the employee requiring absences of one (1) day or less. Accrued personal or compensatory leave shall be used for the first day of an employee's illness requiring his absence of more than one (1) day. Accrued personal or compensatory leave may also be used for an illness in the employee's immediate family as defined in Section 25-3-95. There shall be no limit to the accumulation of personal leave. Upon termination of employment each employee shall be paid for not more than thirty (30) days of accumulated personal leave. Unused personal leave in excess of thirty (30) days shall be counted as creditable service for the purposes of the retirement system as provided in Sections 25-11-103 and 25-13-5.
(5) Any state law enforcement officer who is injured by wound or accident in the line of duty shall not be required to use earned personal leave during the period of recovery from such injury. As used in this subsection, the term "state law enforcement officer" means a person employed by a state agency who, as a condition of his or her employment, is required by law to complete a course of study at the Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy.
(6) Any employee of any
agency may donate a portion of his or her earned personal leave to another
employee of any agency who is suffering from a catastrophic injury * * *, physical illness or mental
illness, or to another employee of any agency who has a member of
his or her immediate family who is suffering from a catastrophic injury * * *, physical illness or mental
illness, in accordance with subsection (8) of Section 25-3-95.
SECTION 3. Section 25-3-95, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-3-95. (1) All employees and appointed officers of the State of Mississippi, except employees of the public universities who do not contribute to the Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System or the State Institutions of Higher Learning Optional Retirement Program, shall accrue credits for major medical leave as follows:
Continuous Accrual Rate Accrual Rate
Service (Monthly) (Annually)
1 month to 3 years 8 hours per month 12 days per year
37 months to 8 years 7 hours per month 10.5 days per year
97 months to 15 years 6 hours per month 9 days per year
Over 15 years 5 hours per month 7.5 days per year
Faculty members employed by the eight (8) public universities on a nine-month contract shall accrue credit for major medical leave as follows:
Continuous Accrual Rate Accrual Rate
Service (Per Month) (Per Academic Year)
1 month to 3 years 13-1/3 hours per month 15 days per
academic year
37 months to 8 years 14-1/5 hours per month 16 days per
academic year
97 months to 15 years 15-2/5 hours per month 17 days per
academic year
Over 15 years 16 hours per month 18 days per
academic year
Part-time employees shall accrue major medical leave on a pro rata basis. There shall be no maximum limit to major medical leave accumulation. All unused major medical leave shall be counted as creditable service for the purposes of the retirement system as provided in Sections 25-11-103 and 25-13-5.
(2) (a) Major medical leave may be used for the illness or injury of an employee or member of the employee's immediate family as defined in subsection (3) of this section, only after the employee has used one (1) day of accrued personal or compensatory leave for each absence due to illness, or leave without pay if the employee has no accrued personal or compensatory leave; provided that faculty members employed by the eight (8) public universities on a nine-month basis may use major medical leave for the first day of absence due to illness. However, major medical leave may be used, without prior use of personal leave, to cover regularly scheduled visits to a doctor's office or a hospital for the continuing treatment of a chronic disease, as certified in advance by a physician. For the purposes of this section, "physician" means a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, dental medicine, podiatry or chiropractic. For each absence due to illness of thirty-two (32) consecutive working hours (combined personal leave and major medical leave), major medical leave shall be authorized only when certified by their attending physician.
(b) When an employee's absence is due to a work-related injury for which the employee is receiving temporary disability benefits under Section 71-3-17(b) or 71-3-21, the injured employee shall not use accrued personal and/or medical leave and receive workers' compensation benefits simultaneously if the combined receipt of both benefits results in the employee being paid, while absent due to the work-related injury, a total amount that exceeds one hundred percent (100%) of his wages earned in state employment at the time of injury. In such cases, the injured employee may use only as much of his accrued personal and/or medical leave as necessary, which may be fewer than eight (8) hours of accrued personal and/or major medical leave in a day, to constitute the difference between the amount of temporary disability workers' compensation benefits received and one hundred percent (100%) of his wages earned at the time of injury in state employment. It is the intent of the Legislature that no state employee who is absent and disabled from work due to a work-related injury shall receive more than one hundred percent (100%) of his wages earned in state employment at the time of injury through the use of accrued personal and/or medical leave combined with temporary disability benefits under the Workers' Compensation Law. The procedure for implementing this paragraph (b) shall be as directed by the applicable appointing authority. The receipt or payment of benefits in compliance with this paragraph (b) shall be considered the employee's exclusive remedy against the employer in accordance with Section 71-3-9.
(3) An employee may use up to three (3) days of earned major medical leave for each occurrence of death in the immediate family requiring the employee's absence from work. No qualifying time or use of personal leave will be required prior to use of major medical leave for this purpose. For the purpose of this subsection (3), the immediate family is defined as spouse, parent, stepparent, sibling, child, stepchild, grandchild, grandparent, son- or daughter-in-law, mother- or father-in-law or brother- or sister-in-law. Child means a biological, adopted or foster child, or a child for whom the individual stands or stood in loco parentis.
(4) Employees and appointed officers of the State of Mississippi having unused, accumulated sick leave or annual leave earned prior to July 1, 1984, shall be credited with major medical leave and personal leave as follows: All unused annual leave shall be credited as personal leave.
Unused sick leave shall be divided between major medical leave and personal leave at rates determined by the employee's sick leave balance on June 30, 1984. The rates of conversion shall be as follows:
Sick Leave Percentage Percentage
Balance as of Converted to Converted to
June 30, 1984 Personal Leave Major Medical Leave
1 - 200 hours 20% 80%
201 - 400 hours 25% 75%
401 - 600 hours 30% 70%
601 or more hours 35% 65%
(5) Upon retirement from active employment, each faculty member of the state-supported public universities who is employed on a nine-month basis shall receive credit and be paid for not more than thirty (30) days of unused major medical leave for service as a state employee. Unused major medical leave in excess of thirty (30) days shall be counted as creditable service for the purposes of the retirement system as provided in Sections 25-11-103 and 25-13-5.
(6) Any state law enforcement officer who is injured by wound or accident in the line of duty shall not be required to use earned major medical leave during the period of recovery from such injury. As used in this subsection, the term "state law enforcement officer" means a person employed by a state agency who, as a condition of his or her employment, is required by law to complete a course of study at the Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy.
(7) For the purpose of Sections 25-3-91 through 25-3-99, the earned major medical leave of each employee shall be credited monthly after the completion of each calendar month, and the appointing authority shall not increase the amount of major medical leave to an employee's credit. It shall be unlawful for an appointing authority to grant major medical leave in an amount greater than was earned and accumulated by the officer or employee.
(8) Any employee of any
agency may donate a portion of his or her earned personal leave or major
medical leave to another employee of any agency who is suffering from a
catastrophic injury * * *, physical illness or mental illness, as defined in
Section 25-3-91, or to another employee of any agency who has a member
of his or her immediate family who is suffering from a catastrophic injury * * *, physical illness or mental
illness, in accordance with the following:
(a) The employee donating the leave (the "donor employee") shall designate the employee who is to receive the leave (the "recipient employee") and the amount of earned personal leave and major medical leave that is to be donated, and shall notify the donor employee's appointing authority or supervisor of his or her designation. The donor employee's appointing authority or supervisor then shall notify the recipient employee's appointing authority or supervisor of the amount of leave that has been donated by the donor employee to the recipient employee.
(b) The maximum amount of earned personal leave that an employee may donate to any other employee may not exceed a number of days that would leave the donor employee with fewer than seven (7) days of personal leave left, and the maximum amount of earned major medical leave that an employee may donate to any other employee may not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the earned major medical leave of the donor employee. All donated leave shall be in increments of not less than twenty-four (24) hours.
(c) An employee must have exhausted all of his or her earned personal leave and major medical leave before he or she will be eligible to receive any leave donated by another employee.
(d) Before an employee
may receive donated leave, he or she must provide his or her appointing
authority or supervisor with a physician's statement that states the beginning
date of the catastrophic injury * * *, physical illness or mental
illness, a description of the injury or illness, and a prognosis for
recovery and the anticipated date that the recipient employee will be able to
return to work.
(e) If an employee is
aggrieved by the decision of his or her appointing authority that the employee
is not eligible to receive donated leave because the injury or illness of the
employee or member of the employee's immediate family is not, in the appointing
authority's determination, a catastrophic injury * * *, physical illness or mental
illness, the employee may appeal the decision to the employee appeals
board.
(f) Beginning on March 25, 2003, the maximum period of time that an employee may use donated leave without resuming work at his or her place of employment is ninety (90) days, which commences on the first day that the recipient employee uses donated leave. Donated leave that is not used because a recipient employee has used the maximum amount of donated leave authorized under this paragraph shall be returned to the donor employees in the manner provided under paragraph (g) of this subsection.
(g) If the total amount of leave that is donated to any employee is not used by the recipient employee, the donated leave shall be returned to the donor employees on a pro rata basis, based on the ratio of the number of days of leave donated by each donor employee to the total number of days of leave donated by all donor employees.
(h) The failure of any appointing authority or supervisor of any employee to properly deduct an employee's donation of leave to another employee from the donor employee's earned personal leave or major medical leave shall constitute just cause for the dismissal of the appointing authority or supervisor.
(i) No person through the use of coercion, threats or intimidation shall require or attempt to require any employee to donate his or her leave to another employee. Any person who alleges a violation of this paragraph shall report the violation to the executive head of the agency by whom he or she is employed or, if the alleged violator is the executive head of the agency, then the employee shall report the violation to the State Personnel Board. Any person found to have violated this paragraph shall be subject to removal from office or termination of employment.
(j) No employee can donate leave after tendering notice of separation for any reason or after termination.
* * *
( * * *k) In order for an employee to be
eligible to receive donated leave, the employee must:
(i) Have been employed for a total of at least twelve (12) months by the employer on the date on which the leave is donated; and
(ii) Have been employed for at least one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) hours of service with such employer during the previous twelve-month period from the date on which the leave is donated.
(m) Donated leave shall not be used in lieu of disability retirement.
(n) For the purposes of this subsection, "immediate family" means spouse, parent, stepparent, sibling, child or stepchild.
(9) An employee may use up to six (6) weeks of earned major medical leave for the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one (1) year of placement.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
