Fire fighters and police officers can accumulate paid sick leave, use it for bona fide illness, and may be entitled to a lump-sum payout when leaving classified service.
Sec. 143.045. ACCUMULATION AND PAYMENT OF SICK LEAVE. (a) A permanent or temporary fire fighter or police officer is allowed sick leave with pay accumulated at the rate of 1-1/4 full working days for each full month employed in a calendar year, so as to total 15 working days to a person's credit each 12 months. (b) A fire fighter or police officer may accumulate sick leave without limit and may use the leave if unable to work because of a bona fide illness. If an ill fire fighter or police officer exhausts the sick leave and can conclusively prove that the illness was incurred in the performance of duties, an extension of sick leave shall be granted. (c) Except as otherwise provided by Section 143.116, a fire fighter or police officer who leaves the classified service for any reason is entitled to receive in a lump-sum payment the full amount of the person's salary for accumulated sick leave if the person has accumulated not more than 90 days of sick leave. If a fire fighter or police officer has accumulated more than 90 working days of sick leave, the person's employer may limit payment to the amount that the person would have received if the person had been allowed to use 90 days of accumulated sick leave during the last six months of employment. The lump-sum payment is computed by compensating the fire fighter or police officer for the accumulated time at the highest permanent pay classification for which the person was eligible during the last six months of employment. The fire fighter or police officer is paid for the same period for which the person would have been paid if the person had taken the sick leave but does not include additional holidays and any sick leave or vacation time that the person might have accrued during the 90 days. (d) To facilitate the settlement of the accounts of deceased fire fighters and police officers, all unpaid compensation, including all accumulated sick leave, due at the time of death to an active fire fighter or police officer who dies as a result of a line-of-duty injury or illness, shall be paid to the persons in the first applicable category of the following prioritized list: (1) to the beneficiary or beneficiaries the fire fighter or police officer designated in writing to receive the compensation and filed with the commission before the person's death; (2) to the fire fighter's or police officer's widow or widower; (3) to the fire fighter's or police officer's child or children and to the descendants of a deceased child, by representation; (4) to the fire fighter's or police officer's parents or to their survivors; or (5) to the properly appointed legal representative of the fire fighter's or police officer's estate, or in the absence of a representative, to the person determined to be entitled to the payment under the state law of descent and distribution. (e) Payment of compensation to a person in accordance with Subsection (d) is a bar to recovery by another person. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.