On its face, the leave request process appears straightforward: someone requests a leave of absence, and then someone in the administration with the required authority determines if there's reason to grant the leave, and renders a decision. In reality, however, leave requests can be complicated.
One reason leave requests complicate things is that they can throw staff scheduling into upheaval. To cope, your school may have to hire a qualified substitute teacher for a relatively long period of time. Another reason leave requests are complex is that there are laws regulating when leave must be granted, and how much the school system is allowed to know about reasons for requesting a leave. For these reasons alone, a streamlined, automated leave request process is essential. Leave Requests Must Conform to Applicable Laws In the United States, common reasons for requesting leaves of absence include pregnancy, other temporarily disabling medical conditions, and caring for family members who are ill. These leave requests are covered under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and under a number of state-level family care acts. It's up to the school administration to determine whether an employee's leave request is covered by the FMLA or other laws and to process the request accordingly. In some cases, medical certification for leave is required, and with each leave request, the school system determines the type and amount of paid and unpaid leave the employee is eligible for. If a leave of absence is covered by the FMLA or other applicable law, this should be documented on the employee's records. Having More Than One Leave Request Can Help Since leave requests aren't all alike, many businesses create multiple leave requests and write policies for employees about when to use a leave request form, and which one applies in their case. Having documented departmental leave requests and written policies informing employees on how to use leave request forms and when they must be submitted can help prevent confusion. Some schools may include requests for a modified work schedule in the leave request process, and they may designate a single point of contact in administration to whom questions about leave and modified work schedule requests are to be made. Though a school may require certification from a healthcare provider for an employee's need for leave, employees are not required to disclose the exact nature of their medical condition.
