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Sick Leave Donation Program

I. PURPOSE

The purpose of the Sick Leave Donation is to establish an equitable way of allowing employees to share their accumulated sick leave with others in need of additional sick leave until the employee is eligible for the College's short-term and long-term disability programs.

The intent of this program is to protect regular full time staff employees who may face financial hardship because they have exhausted all of their own sick leave, vacation leave or personal leave due to an extended serious, catastrophic, or unforeseen illness, injury or impairment.

II. SCOPE

After one year of full-time service, all regular full-time staff employees eligible to accrue and use sick leave, will be eligible to become a member and donate to and withdraw from the Sick Leave Donation.

III. POLICY

  1. After one year of full-time service, all regular full-time staff employees may contribute to and withdraw sick leave from the pool and become a member. To become a member, a staff member is required to contribute at least one sick day to the sick leave donation. The contribution of at least one sick day in the immediate prior year or current calendar year will establish membership in the pool.
  2. Membership and contributions to the sick leave donation are voluntary.
  3. Normally, contributions to the sick leave donation will be accepted twice during the calendar year during January and July each year. If the balance of the available sick leave days in the pool falls below an amount that the Director of Human Resources deems prudent, the Director may authorize a special contribution period. Human Resources will announce the exact dates each year for contributions.
  4. Human Resources and the Senior Vice President of Finance and Management, if applicable, will be responsible for guarding the privacy of sick leave recipients and donors. Communications must be kept confidential between the parties.
  5. Contributions will be accepted by completing a Sick Leave Contribution Form available in Human Resources. An eligible employee may contribute a minimum of one day up to a maximum of ten sick days a calendar year.
  6. After one year of full-time service, any eligible regular full-time staff employee may request a withdrawal.
  7. Withdrawals from the Sick Leave Donation are permitted only for serious, catastrophic, or unforeseen illness, injury or impairment of the employee that meets all three criteria (a) has caused, or is likely to cause, the employee to take leave without pay and (b) requires continuing treatment or supervision by a licensed health care provider, and also (c) requires absence from work of at least five days per illness or episode.
  8. Withdrawals from the Sick Leave Donation may only be taken in increments of full days.
  9. Withdrawals may only occur to the extent of the Sick Leave Donation contributions available for withdrawal and the beneficiary has no leave time available.
  10. An eligible staff employee who is eligible for or currently receiving workers' compensation, long-term disability or benefits from the College's Maternity/Adoption Policy may not withdraw from the Sick Leave Donation.
  11. An eligible staff employee may not withdraw more than 30 days per illness, injury, or condition. If an employee anticipates being incapacitated and unable to work for an extended period of time, the employee should contact Human Resources regarding the College's short-term and long-term disability policies.
  12. An eligible staff employee receiving sick leave days from the pool will not accrue additional leave for those days.
  13. At the end of any calendar year, any contributions available during the calendar year but not withdrawn during the calendar year do not lapse but are carried forward to and are available in the following calendar year or years.
  14. The administration of the policy and approval of Sick Leave Donation withdrawals are the responsibility of Human Resources.

IV. PROCEDURES

  1. Normally, twice a calendar year, the Director of Human Resources will notify all staff of the open contribution period for the Sick Leave Donation.
  2. Normally, twice a calendar year, regular full-time employees, with one year full-time service, wishing to contribute to the Sick Leave Donation must file their contribution form with Human Resources. Contributions must be at least in increments of one sick day, up to ten sick days a calendar year.
  3. New full-time staff members will be eligible to become a member and join the pool after they have completed one year of service. A new full-time staff member may elect to contribute to the Sick Leave Donation during the next open contribution period after their one year full-time service anniversary occurs by submitting a Sick Leave Contribution form to Human Resources.
  4. Sick leave contributions will be deducted expeditiously from contributing employee's accumulated earnings after the open contribution period closes.
  5. A request for withdrawal of days from the Sick Leave Donation is to be accompanied by a licensed health care provider's statement verifying the nature and the expected duration of the illness or injury. Requests are to be made not more than five days after the withdrawal is to commence. If an employee is incapacitated, a family member or designee may request leave from the Sick Leave Donation on the employee's behalf with medical documentation.
  6. The request for withdrawal will be submitted to Human Resources who will make a decision on the eligibility of the request.
  7. The Director of Human Resources will review the nature of the illness, anticipated duration as indicated by the licensed health care provider's statement, the number of days requested to be withdrawn and make a determination of the number of days to be withdrawn. In making the decision, the Director shall be guided by the facts underlying the request, the available days in the Sick Leave Donation, and other factors that the Director may deem relevant to the decision. If the member is released to return to work prior to the expected date, the unused days will remain in the pool.
  8. In the case of an appeal, all information will be submitted to the Senior Vice President of Finance and Management who will then make a final decision.
  9. The decisions of the Director of Human Resources or the Senior Vice President for Finance and Management shall be stated on the request form and include, where applicable, the reasons, for denying the request or allowing a number of days to be withdrawn, if different, than the number requested.
  10. The decisions of the Director of Human Resources or the Senior Vice President for Finance and Management shall be final and binding and are not subject to the College's grievance procedure or litigation.

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