{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-161.155","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 161.155","heading":"Definitions for section -- Salary, benefits, and leave for employee or","body":"teacher when victim of assault -- Sick leave for employee or teacher -- Sick\nleave bank -- Sick leave donation program -- Maternity leave -- Payment for\nunused sick leave upon retirement or death -- Funding allocation -- Report.\n(1) As used in this section:\n(a) \"Assault\" shall mean an act that intentionally causes injury so significant that\nthe victim is determined to be, by certification of a physician or surgeon duly\nqualified under KRS Chapter 342, incapable of performing the duties of his or\nher job;\n(b) \"Employee\" shall mean any person, other than a teacher, employed in the\npublic schools, whether on a full or part-time basis;\n(c) \"Immediate family\" shall mean the tea cher's or employee's spouse, children\nincluding stepchildren and foster children, grandchildren, daughters -in-law\nand sons -in-law, brothers and sisters, parents and spouse's parents, and\ngrandparents and spouse's grandparents, without reference to the loca tion or\nresidence of said relative, and any other blood relative who resides in the\nteacher's or employee's home;\n(d) \"Sick leave bank\" shall mean an aggregation of sick leave days contributed by\nteachers or employees for use by teachers or employees who h ave exhausted\nall sick leave and other available paid leave days; and\n(e) \"Teacher\" shall mean any person for whom certification is required as a basis\nof employment in the common schools of the state.\n(2) Each district board of education shall allow to ea ch teacher and full -time employee\nin its common school system not less than ten (10) days of sick leave during each\nschool year, without deduction of salary. Sick leave shall be granted to a teacher or\nemployee if he or she presents a personal statement or  a certificate of a physician\nstating that the teacher or employee was ill, that the teacher or employee was absent\nfor the purpose of attending to a member of his or her immediate family who was\nill, or for the purpose of mourning a member of his or her i mmediate family. The\nten (10) days of sick leave granted in this subsection may be taken by a teacher or\nemployee on any ten (10) days of the school year and shall be granted in addition to\naccumulated sick leave days that have been credited to the teacher  or employee\nunder the provisions of subsection (4) of this section.\n(3) A school district shall coordinate among the income and benefits from workers'\ncompensation, temporary disability retirement, and district payroll and benefits so\nthat there is no los s of income or benefits to a teacher or employee for work time\nlost because of an assault while performing the teacher's or employee's assigned\nduties for a period of up to one (1) year after the assault. In the event a teacher or\nemployee suffers an assau lt while performing his or her assigned duties that results\nin injuries that qualify the teacher or employee for workers' compensation benefits,\nthe district shall provide leave to the teacher or employee for up to one (1) year\nafter the assault with no loss of income or benefits under the following conditions:\n(a) The district shall pay the salary of the teacher or employee between the time\nof the assault and the time the teacher's or employee's workers' compensation\nincome benefits take effect, or the tim e the teacher or employee is certified to\nreturn to work by a physician or surgeon duly qualified under KRS Chapter\n342, whichever is sooner;\n(b) The district shall pay, for up to one (1) year from the time of the assault, the\ndifference between the salary  of the teacher or employee and any workers'\ncompensation income benefits received by the teacher or employee resulting\nfrom the assault. Payments by the district shall include payments for\nintermittent work time missed as a result of the assault during th e one (1) year\nperiod. If the teacher's or employee's workers' compensation income benefits\ncease during the one (1) year period after the assault, the district shall also\ncease to make payments under this paragraph;\n(c) The Commonwealth, through the Kentucky Department of Education, shall\nmake the employer's health insurance contribution during the period that the\ndistrict makes payments under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection;\n(d) The Commonwealth, through the Ke ntucky Department of Education, shall\nmake the employer's contribution to the retirement system in which the\nteacher or employee is a member during the period that the district makes\npayments under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection; and\n(e) Payments to a teacher or employee under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this\nsubsection shall be coordinated with workers' compensation benefits under\nKRS Chapter 342, disability retirement benefits for teachers under KRS\n161.661 to 161.663, and disability retirement b enefits for employees under\nKRS 61.600 to 61.621 and 78.5522, 78.5524, 78.5526, 78.5528, and 78.5530\nso that the teacher or employee receives income equivalent to his or her full\ncontracted salary, but in no event shall the combined payments exceed one\nhundred percent (100%) of the teacher's or employee's full contracted salary.\n(4) Days of sick leave not taken by an employee or a teacher during any school year\nshall accumulate without limitation and be credited to that employee or teacher.\nAccumulated sick  leave may be taken in any school year. Any district board of\neducation may, in its discretion, allow employees or teachers in its common school\nsystem sick leave in excess of the number of days prescribed in this section and\nmay allow school district empl oyees and teachers to use up to three (3) days' sick\nleave per school year for emergency leave pursuant to KRS 161.152(3). Any\naccumulated sick leave days credited to an employee or a teacher shall remain so\ncredited in the event he or she transfers his or her place of employment from one (1)\nschool district to another within the state or to the Kentucky Department of\nEducation or transfers from the Department of Education to a school district.\n(5) Accumulated days of sick leave shall be granted to a teacher or employee if, prior to\nthe opening day of the school year, a statement or a certificate of a physician is\npresented to the district board of education, stating that the teacher or employee is\nunable to commence his or her duties on the opening day of t he school year, but\nwill be able to assume his or her duties within a period of time that the board\ndetermines to be reasonable.\n(6) Any school teacher or employee may repurchase previously used sick leave days\nwith the concurrence of the local school boar d by paying to the district an amount\nequal to the total of all costs associated with the used sick leave.\n(7) A district board of education may adopt a plan for a sick leave bank. The plan may\ninclude limitations upon the number of days a teacher or emplo yee may annually\ncontribute to the bank and limitations upon the number of days a teacher or\nemployee may annually draw from the bank. Only those teachers or employees who\ncontribute to the bank may draw upon the bank. Days contributed will be deducted\nfrom the days available to the contributing teacher or employee. The sick leave\nbank shall be administered in accordance with a policy adopted by the board of\neducation.\n(8) (a) A district board of education shall establish a sick leave donation program to\npermit teachers or employees to voluntarily contribute sick leave to teachers\nor employees in the same school district who are in need of an extended\nabsence from school. A teacher or employee who has accrued more than\nfifteen (15) days' sick leave may reque st the board of education to transfer a\ndesignated amount of sick leave to another teacher or employee who is\nauthorized to receive the sick leave donated. A teacher or employee may not\nrequest an amount of sick leave be donated that reduces his or her sic k leave\nbalance to less than fifteen (15) days.\n(b) A teacher or employee may receive donations of sick leave if:\n1. a. The teacher or employee or a member of his or her immediate\nfamily suffers from a medically certified illness, injury,\nimpairment, or ph ysical or mental condition that has caused or is\nlikely to cause the teacher or employee to be absent for at least ten\n(10) days; or\nb. The teacher or employee suffers from a catastrophic loss to his or\nher personal or real property, due to either a natural disaster or fire,\nthat either has caused or will likely cause the employee to be\nabsent for at least ten (10) consecutive working days;\n2. The teacher's or employee's need for the absence and use of leave are\ncertified by a licensed physician for leave r equested under subparagraph\n1.a. of this subsection;\n3. The teacher or employee has exhausted his or her accumulated sick\nleave, personal leave, and any other leave granted by the school district;\nand\n4. The teacher or employee has complied with the school  district's policies\ngoverning the use of sick leave.\n(c) While a teacher or employee is on sick leave provided by this section, he or\nshe shall be considered a school district employee, and his or her salary,\nwages, and other employee benefits shall not be affected.\n(d) Any sick leave that remains unused, is not needed by a teacher or employee,\nand will not be needed in the future shall be returned to the teacher or\nemployee donating the sick leave.\n(e) The board of education shall adopt policies and proce dures necessary to\nimplement the sick leave donation program.\n(9) (a) A teacher or employee may use up to thirty (30) days of sick leave following\nthe birth or adoption of a child or children. Additional days may be used when\nthe need is verified by a physician's statement.\n(b) On or before July 1, 2030, each school district shall establish a policy to\nprovide up to thirty (30) paid maternity leave days for a teacher or employee\nwho gives birth to a child. The maternity leave days shall be used without\ndeduction of salary and shall be used prior to the teacher or employee using\nany other leave. Any maternity leave days unused by the teacher or employee\nshall not transfer into sick leave or be converted to any other leave type and\nshall expire upon return to work. This paragraph shall not limit a school\ndistrict's authority to establish additional paid maternity benefits or to provide\npaid parental leave benefits.\n(10) (a) A district board of education may compensate, at the time of retirement or\nupon the deat h of a member in active contributing status at the time of death\nwho was eligible to retire by reason of service, an employee or a teacher, or\nthe estate of an employee or teacher, for each unused sick leave day. The rate\nof compensation for each unused si ck leave day shall be based on a\npercentage of the daily salary rate calculated from the employee's or teacher's\nlast annual salary, not to exceed thirty percent (30%).\n(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, payment for unused\nsick lea ve days under this subsection shall be incorporated into the annual\nsalary of the final year of service for inclusion in the calculation of the\nemployee's or teacher's retirement allowance only at the time of his or her\ninitial retirement, provided that th e member makes the regular retirement\ncontribution for members on the sick leave payment. The accumulation of\nthese days includes unused sick leave days held by the employee or teacher at\nthe time of implementation of the program.\n(c) For a teacher or empl oyee who becomes a nonuniversity member of the\nTeachers' Retirement System on or after January 1, 2022, as provided by KRS\n161.220, payment for unused sick leave days under this subsection shall not\nbe incorporated into the annual compensation used to calculate the teacher's or\nemployee's retirement allowance in the foundational benefit component as\ndescribed by KRS 161.633 but may be deposited into the nonuniversity\nmember's supplemental benefit component as provided by KRS 161.635.\n(d) For a teacher or employee who begins employment with a local school district\non or after July 1, 2008, the maximum amount of unused sick leave days a\ndistrict board of education may recognize in calculating the payment of\ncompensation to the teacher or employee under this su bsection shall not\nexceed three hundred (300) days.\n(e) 1. Actuarial costs to the Teachers' Retirement System for the inclusion of\npayment for unused sick leave days that are eligible for compensation\nunder paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be funded in accordance\nwith this paragraph.\n2. The state shall pay the actuarial costs for the compensation attributable\nto the actual unused sick leave accrued as of June 30, 2025, plus annual\nadjustments to the sick leave balance each fiscal year thereafter, based\nupon the sick leave accrued or used by the teacher or employee, not to\nexceed thirteen (13) additional days per year. Unused sick leave payable\nby the state shall not include any annual leave described by KRS\n161.540(1)(f) or the cost of unused sick days for employees retiring\nfrom agencies listed in KRS 161.220(4)(d) and (f).\n3. The last employer who is compensating the unused sick day as provided\nin paragraph (a) of this subsection shall pay the actuarial costs of\ncompensation for unused sick leave days not paid by the state under\nsubparagraph 2. of this paragraph. Upon the teacher's or employee's\nretirement, the Teachers' Retirement System shall bill the last employer\nfor the cost of the unused sick days, and the employer shall pay the costs\nwithin fifteen (15) days after receiving notifica tion of the cost from the\nsystem.\n4. The actuarial costs of the unused sick days shall be the amount payable\nfor unused sick days after the fixed statutory employee and employer\ncontributions have been paid as provided in KRS 161.540 and\n161.550(1) and that is necessary to fund the benefit.\n(f) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, and each fiscal year thereafter, each\nschool district shall annually report to the Teachers' Retirement System the\nsick leave balances for each teacher and employee who is a member of the\nTeachers' Retirement System. The report shall include for each teacher or\nemployee:\n1. The sick leave days accrued at the beginning of the fiscal year;\n2. The sick leave days accrued during the fiscal year;\n3. Any other days of leave added to the sick leave balance during the fiscal\nyear by rollover, conversion, or any other method;\n4. The sick leave days used during the fiscal year; and\n5. The sick leave balance at the end of the fiscal year.\n(g) Each school district shall file with the Teach ers' Retirement System\ninformation regarding their sick leave policies and provisions that are\napplicable to members of the system, including:\n1. The number of sick leave days accrued annually under the sick leave\nprogram established pursuant to subsection (2) of this section;\n2. Any other types of leave and the amount of leave by type that may, prior\nto retirement or at the time of retirement, be included by rollover,\nconversion, or any other method, in an employee's sick leave balance\npursuant to any dist rict policy or any contract entered into by the\ndistrict; and\n3. Any other information required by the system.\nThe reporting required by this paragraph shall include a description of\nwhether the policies or contracts governing sick leave policies apply to  all\nemployees, a class of employees, or a specific employee of the district.\n(11) Any statute to the contrary notwithstanding, employees and teachers who\ntransferred from the Department of Education to a school district, from a school\ndistrict to the Depa rtment of Education, or from one (1) school district to another\nschool district after July 15, 1981, shall receive credit for any unused sick leave to\nwhich the employee or teacher was entitled on the date of transfer. This credit shall\nbe for the purposes set forth in subsection (10) of this section.\n(12) The death benefit provided in subsection (10) of this section may be cited as the\nBaughn Benefit.","path":["KRS Chapter 161"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56057","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:10Z","sha256":"9eca5dd1a32a6e4ebc0b236fa9183d41f8022062b336cbd27e8d558f12d9415d","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-161.154","next":"us-ky/krs-161.156"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}