Senate Bill 211 Alabama 2026 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Gerald H. AllenSenator

Republican

Session

2026 Regular Session

Title

Sick leave for education employees; direct donation of sick leave authorized, sick leave banks and catastrophic sick leave further provided for, State Board of Education required to adopt a policy, education authorities required to implement a policy, duties of sick leave bank committees revised

Summary

SB211 expands sick leave banks across Alabama education authorities, requires a state model policy, removes caps on catastrophic leave donations, and allows direct sick leave donations between employees across authorities (beginning 2027-2028), with updated committee duties.

What This Bill Does

It broadens who can operate sick leave banks to include local boards of education and higher education institutions. It requires the State Board of Education to adopt a model policy covering sick leave banks, catastrophic leave, and direct donations, and obligates each educational authority to implement a policy that aligns with it. It removes the limit on how many catastrophic sick leave days one employee can donate and lets employees donate sick leave directly to another employee, even across different authorities, starting in the 2027-2028 school year. It also updates the duties of sick leave bank committees and standardizes forms and processes to administer banks and donations.

Who It Affects

• Educational authorities (local boards of education and public colleges/universities) must implement and administer the modeled sick leave bank policy, manage bank operations, approve committee guidelines, and ensure cross-authority donation processes are in place.
• Public education employees (teachers and staff) who participate in sick leave banks, donate days, borrow days, or receive catastrophic or direct donations, with rules on deposits, loans, repayment, and eligibility that affect how they use sick leave.

Key Provisions

• Expands 'educational authority' to include local boards of education and two-year/four-year public higher education institutions and other public schools.
• Requires the State Board of Education to adopt a model sick leave policy covering sick leave banks, catastrophic leave, and direct donation of sick leave.
• Removes the cap on how many catastrophic sick leave days an employee may donate to another employee.
• Authorizes direct donation of sick leave between employees, including across different educational authorities, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year; direct donations do not go into a sick leave bank and are not repayable by the recipient.
• Each educational authority must implement a sick leave bank policy that does not conflict with the model policy and must approve local bank committee guidelines.
• Revises duties of sick leave bank committees and requires local committee policies to be approved by the educational authority; standard forms for operation and administration shall be provided.
• Establishes a sick leave bank committee structure (five members: one authority representative and four participating members) with annual secret-ballot elections and a CEO-appointed authority representative; committees oversee administration and guidelines.
• Employees may deposit up to five days of earned sick leave into the bank; deposited days can be loaned to participating members whose leave is exhausted.
• Catastrophic leave procedures allow donors to designate days for a specific recipient; recipient must exhaust all sick/personal leave before using such days; donated days are not repayable; donors are informed of non-repayability; each donor may donate up to 30 days for a single recipient.
• Borrowed sick leave days are to be repaid monthly as re-earned; on resignation or termination with outstanding loans, the loan value may be deducted from final pay; participation in the bank is voluntary.
• Compliance: if an authority fails to establish or follow the sick leave bank within 30 days after a petition, state education authorities will enforce compliance.
• Effective date: July 1, 2026.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 12, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Education