IL Supreme Court confirms ‘We were on a break’ can be used to deny paid sick leave

Earlier this year, we wrote about an Illinois teacher who tried to use paid sick leave at the start of a new school year, even though her baby was born in the previous school year (see “’We were on a break’—school channels Ross Gellar to deny teacher paid sick leave”). The Illinois trial and appellate courts each denied the teacher’s request, and she asked the Illinois Supreme Court to weigh in. Here’s what the highest court had to say.

How you doin’? part two

Margaret Dynak worked as a full-time teacher for the Board of Education of Wood Dale School District 7. The Illinois School Code allowed her to accrue paid sick leave each school year. By the end of the 2015-2016 school year, she had 71 sick days available to use during that school year. On March 15, 2016, she told the school district’s superintendent, Dr. John Corbett, she was scheduled to have a baby by cesarean on June 6, 2016. June 6 was the last full day, and June 7 was the last half-day of the 2015-2016 school year.

Dynak told Corbett she intended to use 1.5 days of paid sick leave for June 6 and 7. She also said she intended to take 12 weeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), starting at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year. She indicated her plan was to take the first 28.5 days of FMLA leave as paid sick leave.