employee handbook 1-1-15_no forms

A. PERSONAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE
CHAPTER 8. LEAVE POLICIES
A personal leave of absence without pay may be granted to a regular, full-time employee at the sole
discretion of the Company. Requests for personal leave should be limited to unusual circumstances
requiring an absence of longer than two weeks. Approved personal absences of shorter duration are not
normally treated as leaves but rather as excused absences without pay.
Any leave taken under this provision that qualifies as leave under a state and/or federal family/medical
leave act will be counted as family/medical leave and charged to your entitlement of 12 work weeks of
family/medical leave in a 12-month period.
An employee must submit a request for leave of absence in writing to his/her supervisor. Supervisors will
forward the request for final approval to the HR Director accompanied by a written recommendation. The
employee is expected to request leave of absence with as much advance notice as possible. The
Company reserves the right to deny requests for leave of absence.
The employee has the responsibility to keep the supervisor and the HR Director advised of the leave
situation and to contact his/her supervisor at least one week prior to the expiration of the approved leave
to discuss return to work. If the employee is not prepared to return to work and desires either an
extension of the leave of absence or voluntary termination of the employment relationship, this should be
reported as soon as possible.
Benefits Determination for Leave of Absence Status
1. PTO - Accrued time-off leave must be used during a leave of absence. The employee will receive a
paycheck during the leave as long as the employee has accrued time-off available. When an
employee has used up all accrued vacation or personal leave or if the employee has no accrued
vacation or personal leave, then the leave is unpaid. No PTO hours or holiday hours are earned
during the leave period.
2. Insurance - The Company will continue to provide life insurance and disability insurance for 30 days
after the employee begins the unpaid leave, subject to the requirements of the insurance carriers. The
Company will pay for health care, dental, and vision insurance coverage (if such insurance was
provided before the leave was taken) for 30 days after an employee begins unpaid leave (and the
employee must pay its share of the premium.) In the case of military leaves, insurance benefits will be
continued for up to ten (10) working days per year starting with the day military leave begins.
Following this period, employees on a leave of absence, other than medical leave, will be offered the
opportunity to enroll in the COBRA program, subject to the eligibility requirements of the COBRA plan.
Benefits for employees on medical leave are granted benefits in accordance with the Family/Medical
Leave policy.
Return to Work
The Company will make a reasonable effort, consistent with good business practices and company
needs, to reinstate an employee to the same position he or she previously occupied, or to a similar
position, following a leave of absence. However, the Company does not guarantee reinstatement if the
Employee’s same or a similar position is not available at the time an employee desires to return to work.
The Company reserves the right to offer the employee another position, which may be a lower-level
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Employee Handbook Page 24