The employee or a member of his or her immediately family must be suffering from a catastrophic illness or injury. A catastrophic illness or injury is a severe condition or combination of conditions affecting the mental or physical health of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family that requires treatment by a licensed practitioner for a prolonged period and that forces the employee to exhaust all leave time earned and therefore results in loss of compensation from the state. A severe condition or combination of conditions is one that will:

Result in death if not treated promptly, or
Requires hospitalization for more than 72 consecutive hours, or
Causes a person to be legally declared a danger to him or herself or others.

Note: pregnancy and elective surgery are not considered severe conditions except when life-threatening complications arise from them.

Application Requirements

An employee is eligible to apply for the Sick Leave Pool when all of the following conditions are satisfied.

The employee or employee's immediate family has a severe condition or combination of conditions, as defined in this policy, that requires the prolonged care of a licensed practitioner;
The employee has exhausted all sick leave because of the condition;
The employee has exhausted all paid leave time including compensatory time;
The employee has been absent from work because of the severe condition or combination of conditions for a period of (10) working days during the four month period prior to the date that use of Sick Leave Pool becomes necessary.
The employee has not exhausted the maximum amount of Sick Leave Pool allowed per catastrophic illness or injury; and
The employee's condition is not an on-the-job injury covered by Worker's Compensation Insurance.

Withdrawal from the Sick Leave Pool

Employees who are awarded Sick Leave Pool are eligible for up to 720 hours per condition or 1/3 of the Sick Leave Pool balance, whichever is less. Part-time employee who are awarded Sick Leave Pool are eligible for an amount of hours that is proportionate to their appointment.

Employees who are awarded Sick Leave Pool complete timesheets and receive a paycheck in the same manner as when receiving Sick Leave.

Awaiting a Sick Leave Pool Decision

Employees who have exhausted all accrued and available leave time must be placed on Leave Without Pay pending the decision of Sick Leave Pool. In other words, employees are not allowed to carry a negative leave balance. Departments are responsible for placing the employee on Leave Without Pay when it becomes necessary.

Contributions to the Sick Leave Pool

Employees may make annual automated contributions to the Sick Leave Pool of 8, 16, or 24 hours, provided the donor's balance would not drop below 50 hours.
Employees may make unlimited lump sum contributions to the Sick Leave Pool, provided the donor's balance would not drop below 50 hours.
Employees terminating or retiring may donate their entire accrued sick leave balance.*

*Note: Employees who elect this option should carefully consider their decision. If the employee returns to employment with the State of Texas or a Texas institution of higher education within 12 months from the date they left UT, they are eligible to have their sick leave balances transferred to their new place of employment.

Applications and additional information

To request a Sick Leave Pool application, a donation form, or for additional information, please call Benefit Services at 512-471-HRSC (4772). The application and donation form can be found in Portable Document Format (PDF) on HR Document Express.

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