Sick Leave

Employees are granted 14 days of sick leave at the beginning of the fiscal year. Employees may use sick leave for personal illness or injury and for the care of immediate family members as defined by FCPS.

If employees are transferring from another public school division in Virginia, they may request to have up to 60 work days of accumulated sick leave transferred to FCPS. This request must be in writing to the Office of Payroll Management and must be submitted within the 12-month period after separation from the previous school district.

Personal Leave

FCPS allows instructional staff, and all other employees who work fewer than twelve months each year to use up to five days of sick leave as personal leave. Personal leave not used in one contract/work year is carried over to the next contract/work year as sick leave only.

Annual Leave

Only 12-month employees are eligible for annual leave. The earnings rate is dependent on the number of eligible years of service with FCPS. Annual leave is allotted at the beginning of the fiscal year.

During the first 10 continuous years employment, 12-month employees may accumulate up to a maximum of 30 days of annual leave. Beginning in year 11, 12-month employees can accumulate up to a maximum of 40 days of annual leave. At the end of each fiscal year (June 30), any annual leave beyond those maximums will be converted into sick leave.
 

Leave Entitlements

All FCPS employees who are eligible for sick and/or annual leave will receive their annual entitlement at the beginning of each fiscal year (July 1). Employees joining FCPS after July will receive their annual and/or sick leave allotment at a prorated rate. Employees on short-term disability, long-term disability, leave of absences and/or workers’ compensation leave status will have their leave prorated when they return to work.

The Leave Donation Program

Effective November 1, 2023, FCPS has implemented a leave donation program, which allows a voluntary transfer of sick leave balances between specific employees. To be able to participate in this program, both the leave donor and leave recipient will both need to meet specific program requirements as described below:

• The leave donor (the employee with leave) must donate leave to a specific employee referred to as a recipient (the employee who needs leave). The donor will complete the Leave Donation form. To be eligible to donate, the donor must be actively working at the time of the donation and must be able to maintain a minimum balance of 180 hours after the requested leave donation is transferred to the recipient. Donations cannot exceed 160 hours per fiscal year (July 1 to June 30).    
• The leave recipient is the employee receiving the sick leave transfer. The recipient must be eligible to earn sick leave and must have exhausted all available leave balances. Additionally, the recipient must be on approved FMLA (excluding paid short-term disability), pending worker’s compensation, or pending short-term disability. The recipient can receive leave from multiple donors but will not be provided their names.

After the leave donation form is submitted via StaffConnect, the Disability and Leaves Section will verify the status of the recipient and advise the Payroll Office. If approved, Payroll will process the leave donation one month in the arrears. If you would like to discuss your desire to donate leave or receive leave, please contact us at 571-423-3200.  

The leave donation process is outlined in Regulation 4819.

 

For More Information

Refer to Regulations 4819: Sick Leave, 4813: Annual Leave, 4810: Administrative Leave - Emergency, 4814: Administrative Leave - Civil, and 4817: Religious Accommodation for Employees.