The Chief Executive Officer or his/her designee shall have the authority to place an employee on an involuntary illness leave if the Chief Executive Officer or his/her designee determines that the employee’s physical or mental health renders the employee unfit to perform the duties of the employee’s position.
- Examination of Employees Deemed Unfit for Duty. The Chief Executive Officer or his/her designee may require employees whose fitness for duty is at issue to submit to examinations and evaluations by appropriately licensed health-care providers to determine the employee’s fitness to perform his or her duties.
- Involuntary Personal Illness Leave for Employees Determined to be Unfit for Duty. If an employee is determined to be unfit to perform the employee’s duties, the employee shall be placed on an involuntary personal illness leave and shall have all the same rights afforded to employees on voluntary personal illness leaves in accordance with the applicable personal illness leave policy.
- Disputes Over Fitness for Duty. If an employee who is placed on an involuntary personal illness leave disputes the appropriately licensed healthcare provider’s determination that he/she is unfit to perform his/her duties, the employee must submit an opinion from another appropriately licensed health-care provider that he/she is fit for duty, and the resulting dispute shall be resolved in accordance with the provisions of Rule 4-12(g).
- Duration of Involuntary Personal Illness Leave. An involuntary personal illness leave shall have a duration of no more than twenty-five (25) work months.
- Termination of Involuntary Personal Illness Leave. An involuntary personal illness leave shall terminate on the earlier of: 1) certification that the employee is fit for duty by an appropriate health-care professional approved by the Chief Executive Officer or his/her designee, or, 2) the expiration of twenty-five (25) work months.
- Tenured Teachers and Contract Principals Who Remain Unfit for Duty at the Expiration of Twenty-Five (25) Work Months. If, after the expiration of twenty-five (25) work months on an involuntary personal illness leave, a tenured teacher or a contract principal remains unfit for duty, the tenured teacher or contract principal shall be dismissed in accordance with the Illinois School Code. For purposes of this Rule, an employee who has remained unfit for duty due to a mental or physical incapacity for six (6) or more work months shall not be deemed to be suffering from a temporary mental or psychological impairment, as defined by the Illinois School Code, and nothing in this Rule shall prevent the Board from dismissing a tenured teacher or a contract principal who has been mentally or psychologically incapacitated for more than six (6) months.
- All Other Employees Who Remain Unfit for Duty at the Expiration of Twenty-Five Work Months. If, after the expiration of twenty-five (25) work months on an involuntary personal illness leave, an employee, other than a tenured teacher or a contract principal, remains unfit for duty and is not collecting a permanent disability pension from the Chicago Municipal Employees Annuity Fund, the employee shall be deemed absent without leave and honorably terminated. For purposes of this Rule, an employee who has remained unfit for duty due to a mental or psychological impairment for six (6) or more work months shall not be deemed to be suffering from a temporary mental or psychological impairment, as defined by the Illinois School Code, and nothing in this Rule shall prevent the Board from dismissing an employee who has been mentally or psychologically incapacitated for more than six (6) months.