WEST virginia legislature

2024 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 502

By Senators Oliverio, Boley, Grady, Martin, Weld, Deeds, Roberts, and Takubo

[Introduced January 22, 2024; referred
 to the Committee on Education; and then to the Committee on Finance]

A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-4-10a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing persons who first became a member of the Teachers Retirement System on or after July 1, 2015, the opportunity to sell up to 10 of his or her unused days of personal leave back to the county board in exchange for monetary compensation paid on or before June 30.  

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES, AND OTHER BENEFITS.

§18A-4-10a. Bonus for unused days of personal leave.

(a) County boards of education are authorized to pay to their employees or to defined groups thereof, for the purpose of reducing absenteeism, a bonus at the end of an employment term for each unused day of personal leave accumulated by the employee during that employment term.

(b) To further incentivize attendance, any person who first became a member of the Teachers Retirement System as provided in §18-7A-1 et seq. of this code on or after July 1, 2015, may sell up to 10 of his or her unused days of personal leave back to the county board at the end of the school year in exchange for a cash bonus equal to 80%, per day, of the pay rate used by the county board to compensate substitute teachers having a Bachelor's degree and 10 years of experience. The cash bonus shall be paid on or before June 30.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to combat absenteeism among educators by providing a cash bonus in exchange for unused days of personal leave.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.