The following words and terms, when used in the sections under this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

1. (1) Catastrophic illness or injury--A severe condition or combination of conditions affecting the mental or physical health of an employee or an employee's immediate family member that requires the services of a health care provider for a prolonged period of time and that forces the employee to exhaust all sick leave earned by that employee.
2. (2) Contribute--To give sick leave from an employee's personal sick leave account to the department sick leave pool.
3. (3) Different but related condition--A secondary catastrophic condition that occurs at a later date and is caused by a primary catastrophic condition such as cancer, which spreads from one part of the body to another.
4. (4) Discipline--Written reprimand, probation, suspension without pay, involuntary demotion, involuntary transfer (lateral), or disciplinary reduction in pay.
5. (5) Employee--A person, other than the executive director, who is employed by the department.
6. (6) Health care provider--A medical doctor (MD) or a doctor of osteopathy (DO) who is licensed and authorized to practice in this country or in a country other than the United States in accordance with the law of that country, and who is performing within the scope of his or her practice as defined under applicable law.
7. (7) Human resources officer--An employee in a district, division, or office who is responsible for verifying the accuracy of all employee sick leave records. If more than one employee has these responsibilities, their activities will be coordinated for the purpose of this subchapter.
8. (8) Immediate family--Individuals related by kinship, adoption, or marriage who are living in the same household, foster children living in the same household and certified by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, or a spouse, child, or parent of the employee who does not live in the same household and who needs care and assistance as a direct result of a documented medical condition.
9. (9) Licensed psychiatrist--A psychiatrist licensed by a state medical licensing board.
10. (10) Pool administrator--The Director of the Human Resources Division or designee who administers the department's sick leave pool program.
11. (11) Request--An initial application for withdrawal from the sick leave pool or an application for an extension of a withdrawal due to a catastrophic illness or injury.
12. (12) Severe physical condition--A physical illness or injury that will likely result in death or causes the employee to be off work for 12 continuous weeks or more for the current episode.

13. (13) Severe psychological condition--A psychological illness that results in:

    1. (A) a patient being suicidal or capable of harming themselves or others and requires five days or more inpatient hospitalization; or
    2. (B) electroshock treatment.
14. (14) Sick leave--Leave taken when sickness, injury, or pregnancy and confinement prevent the employee's performance of duty or when the employee is needed to care and assist a member of his or her immediate family who is actually ill.
15. (15) Sick leave pool--A department-wide pool that receives voluntary contributions of sick leave from employees and which transfers approved amounts of sick leave to eligible employees.
16. (16) Withdrawal--An approved transfer of sick leave hours from the department sick leave pool.

Source Note:The provisions of this §4.51 adopted to be effective October 27, 1995, 20 TexReg 8479; amended to be effective March 24, 1997, 22 TexReg 2637; amended to be effective November 22, 1998, 23 TexReg 11657; amended to be effective October 24, 1999, 24 TexReg 9055; amended to be effective November 15, 2000, 25 TexReg 11294; amended to be effective September 16, 2004, 29 TexReg 8834.