An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 8 – Leaves And Absences

3. L EAVE N EAR T HE E ND O F A S EMESTER If the employee begins leave more than five weeks prior to the end of the academic term, the school may require the employee to continue taking leave to the end of the term if the leave is at least three weeks duration, and the return to employment would occur during the three-week period before the end of such term. 1204 If the employee begins leave for a purpose other than the employee’s own serious health condition, during the five weeks prior to the end of the academic term, the school may require the employee to continue taking leave to the end of the term if the leave is of greater than two weeks’ duration, and the return to employment would occur during the two week period before the end of such term. 1205 If the employee begins leave for a purpose other than the employee’s own serious health condition during the three weeks prior to the end of the academic term, the school may require the employee to continue taking leave to the end of the term if the leave is of greater than five working days’ duration. 1206 In the above examples where an educational employee takes leave near the end of the semester, any leave which an school requires the employee to take (presumably so as not to disrupt students with changing instructors at the end of the semester) may not be charged against the employee’s FMLA entitlement. 1207 4. R EINSTATEMENT For purposes of determinations relating to the reinstatement of an employee to an equivalent position, such determinations shall be made on the basis of established school board policies and practices and collective bargaining agreements. The policy or collective bargaining agreement must provide for reinstatement to an equivalent position with equivalent employment benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment. 1208 G. W HAT N OTICE I S A N E MPLOYEE T O G IVE A S CHOOL W HEN R EQUESTING L EAVE ? 1. FMLA Under the FMLA, an employee must give at least 30 days’ notice of foreseeable leave. If 30 days’ notice is not practicable, the employee must give notice as soon as practicable. 1209 Where a school’s usual and customary notice and procedural requirements for requesting leave are consistent with what is practicable given the particular circumstances of the employee’s need for leave, the school’s notice requirements can be enforced. 1210 Significantly, if the employee has complied with the FMLA notice requirement (which only requires verbal notice — see below), a school may not disallow or delay an employee’s taking of FMLA leave. 1211

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