A permanent employee of the classified service who has exhausted all entitlement to sick leave, vacation, compensatory overtime, or other available paid leave and who is absent because of nonindustrial accident or illness may be granted additional leave, paid or unpaid, not to exceed six months. The board may renew the leave of absence, paid or unpaid, for two additional six-month periods or lesser leave periods that it may provide but not to exceed a total of months. An employee, upon ability to resume the duties of a position within the class to which he or she was assigned, may do so at any time during the leaves of absence granted under this

section and time lost shall not be considered a break in service. The employee shall be restored to a position within the class to which he or she was assigned and, if at all possible, to his or her position with all the rights, benefits and burdens of a permanent employee. If, at the conclusion of all leaves of absence, paid or unpaid, the employee is still unable to assume the duties of his or her position, the employee shall be placed on a reemployment list for a period of months.

At any time during the prescribed months that the employee is able to assume the duties of his or her position, the employee shall be reemployed in the first vacancy in the classification of his or her previous assignment. The employee’s reemployment shall take preference over all other applicants except for those laid off for lack of work or funds under

Section in which case the employee shall be ranked according to his or her proper seniority. Upon resumption of the employee’s duties, the break in service will be disregarded and the employee shall be fully restored as a permanent employee. This

section shall apply to districts that have adopted the merit system in the same manner and effect as if it were a part of

Article 3 (commencing with

Section 88060).