1. (a) A sick leave pool is established to alleviate hardship caused to an employee and the employee's immediate family if a catastrophic injury or illness forces the employee to exhaust all eligible leave time earned by that employee and to lose compensation time from the state.
2. (b) The Human Resources Director is designated as the pool administrator and shall develop and maintain the necessary policy for the administration of the sick leave pool consistent with Texas Government Code, Chapter 661.
3. (c) All contributions to the sick leave pool are voluntary. Employees who make contributions to the pool may not stipulate who receives their contributions.
4. (d) An employee may only withdraw time from the sick leave pool in the case of a catastrophic illness or injury of the employee or the employee's immediate family member. The employee must have exhausted all eligible paid leave prior to being awarded sick leave from the pool. The pool administrator shall review the request and determine the amount of time an employee may withdraw from the pool.

Source Note:The provisions of this §452.9 adopted to be effective March 11, 2025, 50 TexReg 1827.