Intent of a Leave of Absence (LOA)
Thank you for notifying HR of your intent to go on a leave of absence (LOA). You may go on a leave for any of these reasons: Personal, Military, Bone Marrow and Organ Donation, Family Medical Leave, Pregnancy, etc. For a more exhaustive list, please view your employee handbook in Paycom under "Documents". Note: if you are out for more than 3 consecutive days, you will automatically be placed on an LOA.
If you are on a LOA due to any of the reasons above, you are likely entitled to FMLA/CFRA which provides 12 unpaid weeks with job and benefit protection. By connecting with AbsencePro, they will send you your rights and responsibilities for an approved LOA.
You may be curious about how a LOA affects you. Here are the top two questions employees will ask HR:
Benefits
If you are on any SHS benefit plans (medical, dental, vision, etc.), once your protected leave ends (generally 12 weeks), you will be moved to COBRA where the employee will be 100% responsible to paying for the health premiums.
Pay
- You most likely qualify for CA state disability and/or paid family leave (PFL). It is optional to apply but it is encouraged as this will reduce the number of hours you need to use from your leave accruals, such as Wellness, PTO, SHS Disability, and Vacation (for 12 month schedule of duties). The state covers approximately 60% to 70% and you may supplement the rest of your pay using your leave accruals.
- Employees on LOA are not eligible to receive any holiday break pay.
- Employees on LOA are not eligible to receive stipends. To name a few examples: any stipends issued for additional work, newborn baby benefit (NBB), and/or the 125th stipend.
Other Forms of Pay
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SHS Paid Parental Benefit (PBB) must be used within the first 12 months immediately following the birth or adoption of an employee’s child.It stops at the start of the summer break retention pay and does not continue into the new academic year.
- If you are the birthing parent, PPB will start the day of the birth.
- If a holiday break falls in between the 12 weeks of PPB, that is paid at 100% regardless if EDD does not cover that week(s).
- If your 12 weeks of PPB ends right before a holiday break, you will not receive holiday pay. Per the Employee Handbook, you must work 5 days prior to a holiday break to receive holiday pay.
- Effective Jan. 1, 2024, SHS has short term disability (STD) insurance to supplement EDD's disability benefit. This is provided through Mutual of Omaha. To apply, visit their website to submit a claim form.
Okay, you've now decided if you would like to move forward with going on a leave of absence. What are the next steps?
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Let your supervisor know the dates that you will need to be on a LOA.
- In our commitment to safeguard the privacy of our employees, we have engaged the services of a third-party administrator, AbsencePro, to oversee all leave of absence matters. To initiate the LOA process, kindly reach out to AbsencePro at the following:
Website: AbsencePro.absencemgmt.com
Phone: 1-833-743-8185 (Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. CST)
Once your leave has been approved by AbsencePro, below is your TO DO checklist. Split into two categories, based on the most common leaves for SHS employees. If you do not see anything below that pertains to you, please reach out to "hrteam@shschools.org".
LOA to care for yourself or an eligible family member due to a medical reason OR before the birth of a child
[separate instructions when baby is born below]
Day before your leave: Employees should not work while they are on a LOA- this includes remote work. Any work done during a LOA is voluntary and is not requested by your supervisor/manager or SHS. To encourage employees to take the time they need, you will need to return all tech equipment, badge, and keys to HR. Your work email will be turned off along with any access to school software.
EDD & SHS Compensation while on LOA: You may be eligible for CA state payments (EDD). EDD pays approximately 60% to 70% of your pay (see below for EDD guidance). To supplement the remainder of your paycheck, you may use your leave accruals to make up the difference that EDD does not pay you.
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EDD: If it is your own medical condition, you will apply for disability. If it is for caring for your family member or baby bonding, you will apply for paid family leave.
Click here for additional EDD information
You may file a claim the day your leave starts. To do so, you must create or login to your EDD account. Please make sure to use your personal email when creating an account.
Once you choose "disability" or "paid family leave", it will take you through a few steps. At the end, you will receive a receipt number starting with "R#". You must provide this to your doctor's office so they can confirm with EDD that your claim is not fraudulent.
EDD will base your payment on their calculation and mail you a wage statement. Please forward this wage statement to "payroll@shschools.org". Per EDD, they roughly pay 60%-70% of wages earned 5 to 18 months before your claim start date, up to a maximum weekly benefit amount. If employees do not submit the wage statement, it is up to the employee to calculate how many hours of SHS leave to use per week.
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SHS:
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Please email "payroll@shschools.org" and state how many hours you would like to use per week from which bucket.
- Send your EDD wage statement to "payroll@shschools.org".
Type of Leaves
10 month schedule of duties educators
11 month schedule of duties educators
12 month schedule of duties educators
Wellness Days
x
x
x
SHS Disability days
x (must exhaust 75% of wellness before use)
x (must exhaust 75% of wellness before use)
x (must exhaust 75% of wellness before use)
PTO
x
x
x
Vacation
N/A
N/A
x
LOA due to the birth of a child
Day before your leave: Employees should not work while they are on a LOA- this includes remote work. Any work done during a LOA is voluntary and is not requested by your supervisor/manager or SHS. To encourage employees to take the time they need, you will need to return all tech equipment, badge, and keys to HR. Your work email will be turned off along with any access to school software.
Benefits: the birth of a child is an IRS life event allowing you to make changes to your benefits! You have 30 DAYS FROM THE BIRTH to enroll your child. You must submit the life event via Paycom to enroll your child. This is a two step process.
- Enter your life event.
- Once the life event has been approved, go into Paycom "benefits" to make your elections. Click here for instructions.
EDD & SHS Compensation while on LOA: You may be eligible for CA state payments (EDD). EDD pays approximately 60% to 70% of your pay (see below for EDD guidance). To supplement the remainder of your paycheck, you may use your leave accruals to make up the difference that EDD does not pay you.
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EDD: If it is your own medical condition, you will apply for disability. If it is for caring for your family member or baby bonding, you will apply for paid family leave.
Click here for additional EDD information
You may file a claim the day your leave starts. To do so, you must create or login to your EDD account.
Once you choose "disability" or "paid family leave", it will take you through a few steps. At the very end, you will receive a receipt number, starting with "R#". You must provide this to your doctor's office so they can confirm with EDD that your claim is not fraudulent.
EDD will base your payment on their calculation. Per EDD, they roughly pay 60%-70% of wages earned 5 to 18 months before your claim start date, up to a maximum weekly benefit amount.
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SHS: When the baby is born, submit your hospital birth certificate to "hrteam@shschools.org" to start your SHS Paid Parental Benefit (PBL).
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Please email "payroll@shschools.org" and state how many hours you would like to use per week from which bucket.
- Send your EDD wage statement to "payroll@shschools.org".
*Employees have found the below image helpful in understanding leave of absences for the birth of a child. Please note that this image is not owned or created by Sacred Heart, and the information within may not be accurate or applicable to every leave of absence scenario. Use at your own discretion.
LOA