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AN ACT relating to sick leave for members of the Teachers' Retirement System 1
and declaring an emergency. 2
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3
Section 1. KRS 161.155 is amended to read as follows: 4
(1) As used in this section: 5
(a) "Teacher" shall mean any person for whom certification is required as a basis 6
of employment in the common schools of the state; 7
(b) "Employee" shall mean any person, other than a teacher, employed in the 8
public schools, whether on a full or part-time basis; 9
(c) "Immediate family" shall mean the teacher's or employee's spouse, children 10
including stepchildren and foster children, grandchildren, daughters-in-law 11
and sons-in law, brothers and sisters, parents and spouse's parents, and 12
grandparents and spouse's grandparents, without reference to the location or 13
residence of said relative, and any other blood relative who resides in the 14
teacher's or employee's home; 15
(d) "Sick leave bank" shall mean an aggregation of sick leave days contributed by 16
teachers or employees for use by teachers or employees who have exhausted 17
all sick leave and other available paid leave days; and 18
(e) "Assault" shall mean an act that intentionally causes injury so significant that 19
the victim is determined to be, by certification of a physician or surgeon duly 20
qualified under KRS Chapter 342, incapable of performing the duties of his or 21
her job. 22
(2) Each district board of education shall allow to each teacher and full-time employee 23
in its common school system not less than ten (10) days of sick leave during each 24
school year, without deduction of salary. Sick leave shall be granted to a teacher or 25
employee if he or she presents a personal statement or a certificate of a physician 26
stating that the teacher or employee was ill, that the teacher or employee was absent 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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for the purpose of attending to a member of his or her immediate family who was 1
ill, or for the purpose of mourning a member of his or her immediate family. The 2
ten (10) days of sick leave granted in this subsection may be taken by a teacher or 3
employee on any ten (10) days of the school year and shall be granted in addition to 4
accumulated sick leave days that have been credited to the teacher or employee 5
under the provisions of subsection (4) of this section. 6
(3) A school district shall coordinate among the income and benefits from workers' 7
compensation, temporary disability retirement, and district payroll and benefits so 8
that there is no loss of income or benefits to a teacher or employee for work time 9
lost because of an assault while performing the teacher's or employee's assigned 10
duties for a period of up to one (1) year after the assault. In the event a teacher or 11
employee suffers an assault while performing his or her assigned duties that results 12
in injuries that qualify the teacher or employee for workers' compensation benefits, 13
the district shall provide leave to the teacher or employee for up to one (1) year 14
after the assault with no loss of income or benefits under the following conditions: 15
(a) The district shall pay the salary of the teacher or employee between the time 16
of the assault and the time the teacher's or employee's workers' compensation 17
income benefits take effect, or the time the teacher or employee is certified to 18
return to work by a physician or surgeon duly qualified under KRS Chapter 19
342, whichever is sooner; 20
(b) The district shall pay, for up to one (1) year from the time of the assault, the 21
difference between the salary of the teacher or employee and any workers' 22
compensation income benefits received by the teacher or employee resulting 23
from the assault. Payments by the district shall include payments for 24
intermittent work time missed as a result of the assault during the one (1) year 25
period. If the teacher's or employee's workers' compensation income benefits 26
cease during the one (1) year period after the assault, the district shall also 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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cease to make payments under this paragraph; 1
(c) The Commonwealth, through the Kentucky Department of Education, shall 2
make the employer's health insurance contribution during the period that the 3
district makes payments under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection; 4
(d) The Commonwealth, through the Kentucky Department of Education, shall 5
make the employer's contribution to the retirement system in which the 6
teacher or employee is a member during the period that the district makes 7
payments under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection; and 8
(e) Payments to a teacher or employee under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this 9
subsection shall be coordinated with workers' compensation benefits under 10
KRS Chapter 342, disability retirement benefits for teachers under KRS 11
161.661 to 161.663, and disability retirement benefits for employees under 12
KRS 61.600 to 61.621 and 78.5522, 78.5524, 78.5526, 78.5528, and 78.5530 13
so that the teacher or employee receives income equivalent to his or her full 14
contracted salary, but in no event shall the combined payments exceed one 15
hundred percent (100%) of the teacher's or employee's full contracted salary. 16
(4) Days of sick leave not taken by an employee or a teacher during any school year 17
shall accumulate without limitation and be credited to that employee or teacher. 18
Accumulated sick leave may be taken in any school year. Any district board of 19
education may, in its discretion, allow employees or teachers in its common school 20
system sick leave in excess of the number of days prescribed in this section and 21
may allow school district employees and teachers to use up to three (3) days' sick 22
leave per school year for emergency leave pursuant to KRS 161.152(3). Any 23
accumulated sick leave days credited to an employee or a teacher shall remain so 24
credited in the event he or she transfers his or her place of employment from one (1) 25
school district to another within the state or to the Kentucky Department of 26
Education or transfers from the Department of Education to a school district. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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(5) Accumulated days of sick leave shall be granted to a teacher or employee if, prior to 1
the opening day of the school year, a statement or a certificate of a physician is 2
presented to the district board of education, stating that the teacher or employee is 3
unable to commence his or her duties on the opening day of the school year, but 4
will be able to assume his or her duties within a period of time that the board 5
determines to be reasonable. 6
(6) Any school teacher or employee may repurchase previously used sick leave days 7
with the concurrence of the local school board by paying to the district an amount 8
equal to the total of all costs associated with the used sick leave. 9
(7) A district board of education may adopt a plan for a sick leave bank. The plan may 10
include limitations upon the number of days a teacher or employee may annually 11
contribute to the bank and limitations upon the number of days a teacher or 12
employee may annually draw from the bank. Only those teachers or employees who 13
contribute to the bank may draw upon the bank. Days contributed will be deducted 14
from the days available to the contributing teacher or employee. The sick leave 15
bank shall be administered in accordance with a policy adopted by the board of 16
education. 17
(8) (a) A district board of education shall establish a sick leave donation program to 18
permit teachers or employees to voluntarily contribute sick leave to teachers 19
or employees in the same school district who are in need of an extended 20
absence from school. A teacher or employee who has accrued more than 21
fifteen (15) days' sick leave may request the board of education to transfer a 22
designated amount of sick leave to another teacher or employee who is 23
authorized to receive the sick leave donated. A teacher or employee may not 24
request an amount of sick leave be donated that reduces his or her sick leave 25
balance to less than fifteen (15) days. 26
(b) A teacher or employee may receive donations of sick leave if: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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1. a. The teacher or employee or a member of his or her immediate 1
family suffers from a medically certified illness, injury, 2
impairment, or physical or mental condition that has caused or is 3
likely to cause the teacher or employee to be absent for at least ten 4
(10) days; or 5
b. The teacher or employee suffers from a catastrophic loss to his or 6
her personal or real property, due to either a natural disaster or fire, 7
that either has caused or will likely cause the employee to be 8
absent for at least ten (10) consecutive working days; 9
2. The teacher's or employee's need for the absence and use of leave are 10
certified by a licensed physician for leave requested under subparagraph 11
1.a. of this subsection; 12
3. The teacher or employee has exhausted his or her accumulated sick 13
leave, personal leave, and any other leave granted by the school district; 14
and 15
4. The teacher or employee has complied with the school district's policies 16
governing the use of sick leave. 17
(c) While a teacher or employee is on sick leave provided by this section, he or 18
she shall be considered a school district employee, and his or her salary, 19
wages, and other employee benefits shall not be affected. 20
(d) Any sick leave that remains unused, is not needed by a teacher or employee, 21
and will not be needed in the future shall be returned to the teacher or 22
employee donating the sick leave. 23
(e) The board of education shall adopt policies and procedures necessary to 24
implement the sick leave donation program. 25
(9) A teacher or employee may use up to thirty (30) days of sick leave following the 26
birth or adoption of a child or children. Additional days may be used when the need 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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is verified by a physician's statement. 1
(10) (a) After July 1, 1982, a district board of education may compensate, at the time 2
of retirement or upon the death of a member in active contributing status at 3
the time of death who was eligible to retire by reason of service, an employee 4
or a teacher, or the estate of an employee or teacher, for each unused sick 5
leave day, subject to the limitations of this subsection. The rate of 6
compensation for each unused sick leave day compensated under this section 7
shall be based on a percentage of the daily salary rate calculated from the 8
employee's or teacher's last annual salary, not to exceed thirty percent (30%). 9
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, payment for unused 10
sick leave days under this subsection shall be incorporated into the annual 11
salary of the final year of service for inclusion in the calculation of the 12
employee's or teacher's retirement allowance only at the time of his or her 13
initial retirement, provided that the member makes the regular retirement 14
contribution for members on the sick leave payment. The accumulation of 15
these days includes unused sick leave days held by the employee or teacher at 16
the time of implementation of the program. 17
(c) For a teacher or employee who becomes a nonuniversity member of the 18
Teachers' Retirement System on or after January 1, 2022, as provided by KRS 19
161.220, payment for unused sick leave days under this subsection shall not 20
be incorporated into the annual compensation used to calculate the teacher's or 21
employee's retirement allowance in the foundational benefit component as 22
described by KRS 161.633 but may be deposited into the nonuniversity 23
member's supplemental benefit component as provided by KRS 161.635. 24
(d) For a teacher or employee who begins employment with a local school district 25
on or after July 1, 2008, the maximum amount of unused sick leave days a 26
district board of education may recognize in calculating the payment of 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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compensation to the teacher or employee under this subsection shall not 1
exceed three hundred (300) days. 2
(e) For a teacher or employee who becomes a nonuniversity member of the 3
Teachers' Retirement System prior to January 1, 2022, as defined in KRS 4
161.220, who retires on or after July 1, 2024, sick leave days that are 5
eligible for compensation under this subsection shall be limited to the sick 6
leave accrued as of June 30, 2024, subject to the following adjustments and 7
limitations: 8
1. The sick leave balance shall be reduced to reflect any sick leave used 9
by the teacher or employee on or after July 1, 2024; 10
2. The sick leave balance shall be increased by no more than ten (10) 11
days of sick leave for the teacher or employee for each fiscal year 12
beginning on or after July 1, 2024, and the increase shall not include 13
any personal days, emergency days, vacation days, sick leave days 14
purchased pursuant to subsection (6) of this section, or any other form 15
of non-sick leave balances offered by the district board of education to 16
teachers or employees; and 17
3. The limitations established by paragraph (d) of this subsection. 18
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, and for each fiscal year 19
thereafter, each school district shall annually report to the Teachers' 20
Retirement System the sick leave balances for each teacher and employee 21
subject to this paragraph as part of the annual reporting requirements 22
under Section 6 of this Act. The report shall include for each teacher or 23
employee the sick leave accrued at the beginning of the fiscal year, the sick 24
leave used during the fiscal year, the sick leave accrued under the limitation 25
of this paragraph during the fiscal year, and the sick leave balance at the 26
end of the fiscal year. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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(11) Any statute to the contrary notwithstanding, employees and teachers who 1
transferred from the Department of Education to a school district, from a school 2
district to the Department of Education, or from one (1) school district to another 3
school district after July 15, 1981, shall receive credit for any unused sick leave to 4
which the employee or teacher was entitled on the date of transfer. This credit shall 5
be for the purposes set forth in subsection (10) of this section. 6
(12) The death benefit provided in subsection (10) of this section may be cited as the 7
Baughn Benefit. 8
Section 2. KRS 161.152 is amended to read as follows: 9
(1) For the purpose of this section, "school personnel" shall mean any person employed 10
as a full-time employee in the public schools. 11
(2) Each district board of education may allow each person employed as a full-time 12
employee in the public schools not to exceed three (3) emergency days per school 13
year for reasons designated by the district board of education, without loss of salary 14
to the employee and without affecting his or her sick leave. 15
(3) Emergency[Personal] leave granted under this section shall not be treated as having 16
effect on the provisions of KRS 161.155, and the emergency leave accrued on or 17
after July 1, 2024, shall not be converted or transferable to sick leave under 18
Section 1 of this Act, except that school personnel, after using the maximum days 19
allowed in subsection (2) of this section, may, upon the recommendation of the 20
school district superintendent and approval of the district board of education, use up 21
to three (3) sick-leave days per school year for emergency leave according to the 22
district board policy as established pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. 23
(4) Payments made by a district board of education under the provisions of this section 24
are presumed to be for services rendered and for the benefit of the common schools 25
and the payments do not affect the eligibility of any school district to participate in 26
the public school funding program as established in KRS Chapter 157. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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Section 3. KRS 161.154 is amended to read as follows: 1
(1) For the purpose of this section, "school employees" shall mean any person for 2
whom certification is required as a basis of employment in the public schools. 3
(2) Each district board of education may provide up to three (3) personal leave days per 4
school year to school employees, without loss of salary to the employee and without 5
affecting any other type of leave granted by law, regulation, or school board policy. 6
Local boards of education may establish policy regarding the number of teachers 7
who may take personal leave on any one (1) day. 8
(3) Personal leave granted under this section shall not be treated as having effect on the 9
provisions of KRS 161.152 to 161.155, and personal leave accrued on or after 10
July 1, 2024, shall not be converted or transferable to sick leave under the 11
provisions Section 1 of this Act. [and ]Personal leave used by the school 12
employee shall be supported by personal statement of the school employee stating 13
that the leave taken is personal in nature; no other reason for or verification of the 14
leave shall be required. 15
(4) Payments to school employees made by a district board of education under the 16
provisions of this section are presumed to be for services rendered and for the 17
benefit of the common schools and such payments do not affect the eligibility of 18
any school district to share in the distribution of funds from the public school 19
foundation program fund as established in KRS Chapter 157. 20
Section 4. KRS 161.400 is amended to read as follows: 21
(1) (a) The board of trustees shall designate as actuary a competent person who shall 22
be a fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries or a member of the 23
American Academy of Actuaries. He or she shall be the technical adviser of 24
the board on matters regarding the operation of the funds of the system and 25
shall perform such other duties as are required in connection therewith. 26
(b) 1. At least once in each two (2) year period, the board shall cause an 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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actuarial investigation to be made of all of the economic experience 1
under the retirement system, including but not limited to the inflation 2
rate, investment return, and payroll growth assumptions, relative to the 3
economic assumptions and funding methods previously adopted by the 4
board. 5
2. At least once in each five (5) year period, the actuary shall make an 6
actuarial investigation into all of the demographic actuarial assumptions 7
used, including but not limited to mortality tables, withdrawal rates, and 8
retirement rate assumptions, relative to the demographic actuarial 9
assumptions previously adopted by the board. 10
3. Each actuarial investigation shall include at a minimum a summary of 11
the changes in actuarial assumptions and funding methods 12
recommended in the investigation and the projected impact of the 13
recommended changes on funding levels, unfunded liabilities, and 14
actuarially recommended contribution rates for employers over a thirty 15
(30) year period. 16
(c) At least annually the actuary shall make an actuarial valuation of the 17
retirement system. The valuation shall include: 18
1. A description of the actuarial assumptions used, and the assumptions 19
shall be reasonably related to the experience of the system and represent 20
the actuary's best estimate of anticipated experience; 21
2. A description of any funding methods utilized or required by state law in 22
the development of the actuarial valuation results; 23
3. A description of any changes in actuarial assumptions and methods from 24
the previous year's actuarial valuation; 25
4. The actuarially recommended contribution rate for employers for the 26
upcoming budget periods; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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5. A thirty (30) year projection of the funding levels, unfunded liabilities, 1
and actuarially recommended contribution rates for employers based 2
upon the actuarial assumptions, funding methods, and experience of the 3
system as of the valuation date; [and] 4
6. A sensitivity analysis that evaluates the impact of changes in system 5
assumptions, including but not limited to the investment return 6
assumption, payroll growth assumption, and medical inflation rates, on 7
employer contribution rates, funding levels, and unfunded liabilities; 8
and 9
7. The full actuarial cost of the sick leave program established in 10
subsection (10) of Section 1 of this Act, including the total actuarial 11
liabilities of the sick leave program and the total actuarial costs to 12
annually finance the program as a percentage of payroll and in total 13
dollars broken down by each funding source. 14
(d) On the basis of the results of the valuations, the board of trustees shall make 15
necessary changes in the retirement system within the provisions of law and 16
shall establish the contributions payable by employers and the state specified 17
in KRS 161.550, including changes prescribed by KRS 161.633, 161.634, 18
161.635, and 161.636, as applicable. 19
(e) For any change in actuarial assumptions, funding methods, retiree health 20
insurance premiums and subsidies, or any other decisions made by the board 21
that impact system liabilities and actuarially recommended contribution rates 22
for employers and that are not made in conjunction with the actuarial 23
investigations required by paragraph (b) of this subsection, an actuarial 24
analysis shall be completed showing the projected impact of the changes on 25
funding levels, unfunded liabilities, and actuarially recommended contribution 26
rates for employers over a thirty (30) year period. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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(2) Actuarial factors and actuarial cost factor tables in use by the retirement system for 1
all purposes shall be determined by the actuary of the retirement system and 2
approved by the board of trustees by resolution and implemented without the 3
necessity of an administrative regulation. 4
(3) A copy of each actuarial investigation, actuarial analysis, and valuation required by 5
subsection (1) of this section shall be forwarded electronically to the Legislative 6
Research Commission no later than ten (10) days after receipt by the board, and the 7
Legislative Research Commission shall distribute the information received to the 8
committee staff and co-chairs of any committee that has jurisdiction over the 9
Teachers' Retirement System. The actuarial valuation required by subsection (1)(c) 10
of this section shall be submitted no later than November 15 following the close of 11
the fiscal year. 12
Section 5. KRS 161.623 is amended to read as follows: 13
(1) Effective July 1, 1982, and thereafter, a district board of education or other 14
employer of members of the Teachers' Retirement System may compensate, at the 15
time of retirement for service, an active contributing member for unused sick-leave 16
days in accordance with this section. 17
(2) Upon the member's application for service retirement, the employer shall certify the 18
retiring member's unused accumulated sick-leave balance to the board of trustees of 19
the [Kentucky ]Teachers' Retirement System. The member's sick-leave balance, 20
expressed in days, shall be divided by one hundred eighty-five (185) days to 21
determine the amount of service credit that may be considered for addition to the 22
member's retirement account for the purpose of determining the retirement 23
allowance under KRS 161.620. Notwithstanding any statute to the contrary, sick-24
leave credit that is accredited under this section or by one (1) of the other state-25
administered retirement systems shall not be used for the purpose of determining 26
whether the member is eligible to receive a retirement allowance from the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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[Kentucky ]Teachers' Retirement System. 1
(3) The board shall compute the cost to the retirement system of the sick-leave credit 2
for each retiring member and shall bill the last employer of the retiring member, 3
which in the case of school board employees shall be the local school district for 4
such cost. The employer shall pay the cost of such service credit to the retirement 5
system within fifteen (15) days after receiving notification of the cost from the 6
board. 7
(4) Retiring members who receive service credit under this section shall not be eligible 8
to receive compensation for accrued sick leave under KRS 161.155(10) or any other 9
statutory provision, except that any sick leave awarded under subsection (2) of 10
Section 1 of this Act on or after July 1, 2024, that is in excess of the ten (10) day 11
limitation prescribed by subsection (10)(e)2. of Section 1 of this Act may be 12
converted to additional service credit under this section if the school district elects 13
to do so and the school district pays the cost required by this section. 14
(5) Employer participation is optional and the employer may opt to purchase less 15
service credit than the member is eligible to receive provided the same percentage 16
of reduction is made applicable to all retiring members of the employer during a 17
school fiscal year. 18
(6) The board of trustees shall formulate and adopt necessary rules and regulations for 19
the administration of the foregoing provisions. 20
(7) Payments to the retirement system for service credit obtained under this section or 21
for compensation credit obtained under KRS 161.155(10) shall be based on the full 22
actuarial cost as defined in KRS 161.220(22). 23
(8) For an individual who becomes a member on or after July 1, 2008, the maximum 24
amount of unused accumulated sick leave that may be considered for addition to the 25
member's retirement account for purposes of determining the retirement allowance 26
under KRS 161.620 shall not exceed three hundred (300) days. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 1563
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Section 6. KRS 161.643 is amended to read as follows: 1
(1) Each school district, institution, and agency employing annuitants of the retirement 2
system shall have on file at the retirement system's office an annual summary report 3
of the days employed and the compensation paid to each annuitant, the sick leave 4
reporting requirements established by Section 1 of this Act, and other data as 5
required by administrative regulation of the board of trustees no later than August 1, 6
following the completion of each fiscal year. 7
(2) The retirement system may impose a penalty on the employer not to exceed one 8
thousand dollars ($1,000) when the employer does not meet the August 1 filing date 9
or fails to provide the information required for employment of annuitants of the 10
retirement system. However, the retirement system may waive the penalty for good 11
cause. 12
(3) The retirement system may promulgate administrative regulations in accordance 13
with KRS Chapter 13A to require employers to report more frequently than on an 14
annual basis. 15
Section 7. The Auditor or Public Accounts shall perform a special audit of the 16
sick leave program established by Section 1 of this Act as it relates to the Teachers' 17
Retirement System and the sick leave reported by local school districts to the Teachers' 18
Retirement System as of June 30, 2024, to ensure that only the sick leave that is eligible 19
for payment under Section 1 of this Act and inclusion in a retiring employee's final 20
average salary as defined in KRS 161.220 is being reported correctly according to 21
Sections 1 to 6 of this Act. The audit shall be paid by the Teachers' Retirement System as 22
part of its normal administrative expenses. 23
Section 8. Whereas ensuring the accuracy of data and costs of the sick leave 24
programs provided by the Teachers' Retirement System will ensure the reliability of 25
future pension costs, an emergency is declared to exist, and this Act takes effect upon its 26
passage and approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a law. 27