Earned Safe and Sick Time

Dear SPPS Staff,

Effective January 1, 2024, temporary employees who are paid by Saint Paul Public Schools on an hourly or daily basis earn ESST sick leave hours at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked up to an annual (calendar year) maximum of 48 hours. Unused hours can be rolled over for a maximum balance of 80 hours. (Employees working at a St Paul Public Schools site, but paid by an outside temp agency are eligible for ESST through their temp agency).

Regular employees receive sick time according to their union contract. A year for the purposes of employees’ earned sick and safe time accrual is the calendar year. Because the time off accrual in the union contracts is more generous than the ESST accrual, regular employees do not earn additional/separate ESST hours on their regular or additional temporary assignments. Employees can however use the first 48 hours of sick time earned each calendar year according to the ESST usage rules. Sick leave usage after the first 48 hours used in a calendar year follow the union contract language.

Please review the ESST Notice for Employees and the ESST FAQ for a full list of what ESST time can be used for as well as other important information regarding this change.

Questions regarding ESST can be sent to hr.info@spps.org.

In Partnership,

Pat Pratt-Cook