April 4, 2002—

Attorney General Opines on Extended Leave of Absence

Extended leave of absence is specifically authorized for teachers by Minnesota Statutes §§ 122A.46 and 354.094. Under those statutes a teacher may be granted an extended leave of absence from teaching for a duration of at least three years and at most five years. During an extended leave of absence a teacher has the opportunity to receive service credit provided the teacher pays the teacher's share of Teachers' Retirement Association ("TRA") contribution and the employer share of TRA contribution is paid by either the teacher or the school district, in whatever proportion negotiated between the teacher and the school district. The teacher may also continue in the school district's group health insurance plan at the teacher's own cost.

As negotiations of teachers' contracts continue, we have seen Education Minnesota make various proposals to modify the statutory provisions for extended leave of absence through the collective bargaining process. Their proposals basically have taken three forms. First, that the school district pay both the employer share and the teacher's share of TRA contribution and provide fully paid group health insurance to a teacher on an extended leave of absence. Second, that the teacher pay his or her own TRA contribution and group health insurance during the extended leave of absence, but the school district directly reimburses the teacher for those out-of-pocket costs. Finally, that the school district provide a "cash incentive" to teachers who are granted an extended leave of absence. Under this third proposal the teacher is responsible for the payment of his or her TRA contribution and group health insurance during the extended leave of absence; however, the "cash incentive" paid at the start of the leave would be approximately equal to the teacher's TRA contribution and group health insurance expenses during the period of the leave so that the teacher would not effectively incur any expense. As we perceived these modifications to be illegal, we requested an opinion from the Attorney General on these issues.

The Attorney General issued his opinion in response to our request, addressing each of the three proposals presented. First, the Attorney General concluded that a school district cannot agree through a collective bargaining agreement to pay directly both the teacher and employer contributions to TRA and provide employer-paid health insurance while a teacher is on an extended leave of absence. This conclusion was based upon a school district's limited authority under the law. It was also noted that the laws specify that continuation of group health insurance coverage and retirement service credit is conditional upon the teacher's payment of the group health insurance costs and at least the teacher's contribution to TRA.

Second, the Attorney General opined that a school district cannot agree to reimburse a teacher for payments he or she makes in TRA contributions and/or for the cost of group health insurance during the period of the leave. Again, the determination was supported by the limited powers possessed by a school district. The Attorney General also noted that its conclusion was "not affected by the means of payment chosen by the district, whether directly to the insurance carrier and retirement association, or indirectly by reimbursing the teacher for the same amount."

Finally, the Attorney General found that a school district cannot agree to pay a teacher a "cash incentive" to take an extended leave of absence. In answering this question, the Attorney General stated that the Legislature has not authorized school districts to offer a "cash incentive" to induce teachers to take an extended leave of absence. Additionally, to the extent the "cash incentive" was intended, at least in part, to reimburse the teacher for amounts paid by a teacher for the teacher's contribution to TRA and/or group health insurance during the period of the leave, such an "incentive" was not authorized. Further, a "cash incentive" "cannot be considered authorized as salary" since it would actually induce the suspension of teaching services for a certain period of time, and the statute clearly states that an extended leave of absence be "without salary."