Appendix 12
Grant of Sick Leave and Special Tuberculosis Leave
(Please read in conjunction with:
EDBC37/2000 Granting of Leave in Aided Schools; and
EDBC18/2002 Leave Records for Non-teaching Sraff in Aided Schools.)

I. SICK LEAVE
  1. Teachers, Laboratory Technicians and Specialist Staff
    (a) The Director may approve paid sick leave for teachers, laboratory technicians and specialist staff in an aided practical school/skills opportunity school.
    (b) Each member of staff so entitled may be given on appointment up to 28 days sick leave, and on completion of each succeeding year of service a further 48 days. The maximum balance which may be accumulated shall be 168 days.
    (c) A practical school/skills opportunity school shall keep sick leave records for each member of its staff so entitled. As sick leave is taken, this will be noted in the records and deducted from the staff member's balance.
    (d) The Director may, once the balance of sick leave has been exhausted by a staff member, approve additional sick leave without pay.
  (2) Non-specialist Staff
    Subject to the provisions of the Employment Ordinance,
    (a) The Director may approve full paid sick leave for non-specialist staff in an aided practical school/skills opportunity school.
    (b) The entitlement to sick leave is at the rate of two paid sickness days for each completed month of service during the first 12 months of employment and 4 paid sickness days for each month of service thereafter.
    (c) The maximum sick leave balance which may be accumulated shall be 120 days.
    (d) Paid sickness days are divided into two categories. Category 1 is made up of paid sickness days accumulated each month up to a total number of 36 days. Category 2 is made up of paid sickness days in excess of 36 days which cannot be entered in category 1, but the total number of paid sickness days in this category cannot at any time exceed 84 days. Paid sickness days accumulated in Category 1 can be taken upon the production of a certificate issued by any medical practitioner. Where the number of paid sickness days taken exceeds the total number of paid sickness days in Category 1, the excess days shall be deducted from the total number of paid sickness days accumulated in Category 2. In this case, the member of staff can be required to produce a certificate issued by a hospital doctor attending him as an out-patient or in-patient in a hospital.
      ("Hospital" in this context includes all government hospitals and specialist clinics and private hospitals registered under the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registered Ordinance.)
    (e) A practical school/skills opportunity school shall keep sick leave records of every member of staff. As sick leave is taken, this will be noted on the record and deducted from the member of staff's balance of sick leave.
    (f) The Director may, once the balance of sick leave has been exhausted by a member of staff, approve additional sick leave without pay.
II. SPECIAL TUBERCULOSIS LEAVE
  1. Teachers, Laboratory Technicians and Specialist Staff entitled to sick leave under the terms of paragraph 1 of Section I who are suffering from tuberculosis may be granted special paid sick leave as follows :
    (a) those with more than one but less than four years service may be granted up to three months leave on full pay;
    (b) those with four or more but less than eight years service may be granted up to six months leave on full pay;
    (c) those with more than eight years service may be granted up to six months leave on full pay plus two weeks additional sick leave in respect of each additional year of service over eight years up to a maximum of twelve months leave on full pay.
      Service under all these provisions means service deemed to be continuous by the Director.
  2.

The Director shall have the power to extend these periods of sick leave in cases which have his special approval.

 
  Notes :
  1. For the purpose of this Appendix, staff in practical schools/skills opportunity schools are classified as follows :
    (a) Teacher
      All staff in the teaching grades, including head teachers, resource teachers, and workshop teachers (WT).
    (b) Laboratory Technicians
    (c) Non-teaching Staff
   
(i) Specialist Staff including school social workers, educational psychologists, wardens, assistant wardens, boarding service masters/mistresses I and boarding service masters/mistresses II.
(ii) Non-specialist staff including clerks, clerical assistants, workshop attendants, special drivers, motor drivers, cooks, watchmen and janitor staff.
  2. Sick leave not exceeding two days may be approved for teachers, laboratory technicians and specialist staff by Principal without the production of a medical certificate. The grant of such sick leave should be reported to the Education Department, and shall be recorded as indicated in paragraphs 1(c) and 2(e) under Section I above.
  3. In seeking approval for the grant of sick leave in excess of two days for teachers, laboratory technicians and specialist staff, Principals must forward an acceptable medical certificate to the Director.
  4. In seeking approval for the grant of special tuberculosis leave for teachers, laboratory technicians and specialist staff, Principals must forward an acceptable medical certificate to the Director.
  5. Part-time staff and monthly-paid temporary staff are entitled to sick leave in accordance with the Employment Ordinance.
  6. Daily-rated staff who has worked for the same school under a continuous contract for not less than 4 weeks is eligible for sickness allowance at the rate of two paid sickness days for each completed month of employment. To be eligible for sickness allowance :
    (i) the sick leave taken by the teacher must not be less than four consecutive days;
      [a female teacher who has entitlement to a sickness allowance shall be paid that allowance for every sickness day when she is absent from work for medical examination in relation to her pregnancy or post-confinement medical treatment, or when she is absent from work by reason of miscarriage]
    (ii) the sick leave must be supported by an appropriate medical certificate;
    (iii)

the teacher has an accumulation of sickness days by virtue of his/her length of service.

 
  The daily rate of sickness allowance is equal to two-thirds of the normal wages for that day.