The following words and terms, when used in the sections under
this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Catastrophic illness or injury--A severe condition
or combination of conditions affecting the mental or physical health
of an employee or an employee's immediate family member that requires
the services of a health care provider for a prolonged period of time
and that forces the employee to exhaust all paid leave earned by that
employee.
(2) Contribute--To give sick leave from an employee's
personal sick leave account to the agency sick leave pool or to a
specific employee.
(3) Different but related condition--A secondary catastrophic
condition that occurs at a later date and is caused by a primary catastrophic
condition such as cancer, which spreads from one part of the body
to another.
(4) Discipline--Written reprimand, probation, suspension
without pay, involuntary demotion, involuntary transfer (lateral),
or disciplinary reduction in pay.
(5) Employee--A person, other than the executive director,
who is employed by the department.
(6) Health care provider--A medical doctor (MD) or
a doctor of osteopathy (DO) who is licensed and authorized to practice
in this country or in a country other than the United States in accordance
with the law of that country, and who is performing within the scope
of his or her practice as defined under applicable law.
(7) Human resources officer--An employee with a human
resources business job title and who is responsible for verifying
the accuracy of all employee paid leave records. If more than one
employee has these responsibilities, their activities will be coordinated
for the purpose of this subchapter.
(8) Immediate family--Individuals related by kinship,
adoption, or marriage who are living in the same household, foster
children living in the same household and certified by the Texas Department
of Family and Protective Services, or a spouse, child, or parent of
the employee who does not live in the same household and who needs
care and assistance as a direct result of a documented medical condition.
(9) Incapacitated--Unable to perform the individual's
normal daily activities, including working and activities that are
fundamental for self care such as dressing, eating, ambulating, toileting,
and hygiene, due to the catastrophic medical condition.
(10) Licensed psychiatrist--A psychiatrist licensed
by a state medical licensing board.
(11) Paid Leave--Accrued sick leave, annual leave,
and regular or Fair Labor Standards Act compensatory time earned by
an employee.
(12) Pool administrator--The Director of the Human
Resources Division or designee who administers the department's sick
leave pool program.
(13) Request--A Sick Leave Pool Contribution/Withdrawal
of Contribution form prescribed by the pool administrator and used
to contribute sick leave, request leave from the sick leave pool or
request an extension of a withdrawal due to a catastrophic illness
or injury.
(14) Severe physical condition--A physical illness
or injury that will likely result in death or causes the patient to
be incapacitated for 12 continuous weeks or more for the current episode.
(15) Severe psychological condition--A psychological
illness that results in:
(A) a patient being suicidal or capable of harming
themselves or others and requires five days or more inpatient hospitalization;
or
(B) electroshock treatment.
(16) Sick leave--Leave taken when sickness, injury,
or pregnancy and confinement prevent the employee's performance of
duty or when the employee is needed to care and assist a member of
his or her immediate family who is actually ill.
(17) Sick leave pool--A department-wide pool that receives
voluntary contributions of sick leave from employees and which transfers
approved amounts of sick leave to eligible employees.
(18) Withdrawal--An approved transfer of sick leave
hours from the department sick leave pool.
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Source Note: The provisions of this §4.51 adopted to be effective October 27, 1995, 20 TexReg 8479; amended to be effective March 24, 1997, 22 TexReg 2637; amended to be effective November 22, 1998, 23 TexReg 11657; amended to be effective October 24, 1999, 24 TexReg 9055; amended to be effective November 15, 2000, 25 TexReg 11294; amended to be effective September 16, 2004, 29 TexReg 8834; amended to be effective November 1, 2008, 33 TexReg 8546; amended to be effective January 6, 2016, 41 TexReg 292 |