POLICY
Policy section 1
It is the policy of the University of Georgia that employees may voluntarily donate sick or annual leave to other employees who have exhausted all of their sick and annual leave and, because of a medical emergency, are in need of additional sick leave.
Policy section 2
Applicability
This program applies to all employees of the University who earn or accrue annual or sick leave.
Policy section 3
Sunset provision
This program will be in effect through the end of calendar year 2005, after which time it will be reviewed for continuation, modification, or elimination. This program may be reviewed or modified prior to the end of 2005 as needed. UPDATE: The program was reviewed in late 2005 and will continue to be offered. The program will be periodically reviewed and modified as necessary. UPDATE: The program was reviewed in late 2007 and will be administered through Human Resources.
Policy Section 4
Definitions
Employee means any employee of the University who earns or accrues annual or sick leave as a benefit of his/her employment by the University.
Leave donor means an employee making a voluntary written request for transfer of annual or sick leave to the sick leave account of a leave recipient.
Leave recipient means a current employee who has completed his/her employment probationary period and for whom Human Resources has approved an application to receive leave from the annual or sick leave accounts of one or more leave donors.
Life-threatening or emergency medical condition means a health condition involving a serious, extreme, or life-threatening illness, injury, impairment, or condition that is likely to require an employee's absence from duty for a period of time longer than the amount of sick and annual leave available to the employee, and the health condition is such that it is not medically appropriate for the employee to delay the absence in order to accrue additional sick or annual leave prior to the absence. Some examples of such conditions include: advanced or rapidly growing cancers, acute life-threatening illnesses, chronic life-threatening conditions in need of immediate care, life-threatening infections, severe injuries arising from automobile or other serious accidents, and severe or life-threatening conditions involving failure of bodily organs or systems (e.g., heart attack). The absence may be continuous, as in hospitalization following surgery or an accident, or intermittent, as in periodic absences for chemotherapy or other procedures.
Policy Section 5
Confidentiality
Any medical information forwarded to Human Resources will be handled confidentially.
PROCEDURES
Procedure section 1
Application to become a leave recipient
An employee may make written application to the Shared Leave Program administered by Human Resources to become a leave recipient, using the Shared Leave Request Form.
If an employee is not capable of making application on his or her own behalf, a personal representative, having documented power of attorney for the potential leave recipient, may make written application on behalf of the employee.
In order for a request to receive donated leave to be approved, the employee must:
- Have completed his/her probationary period and
- Provide certification from a licensed physician that the employee has a life-threatening or emergency medical condition and
- Have exhausted all sick and annual leave (or provide credible medical evidence that he or she will have exhausted all sick and annual leave within 45 days of the date of the request)
A potential leave recipient may request up to 160 hours of leave transfer at one time, and may make up to three applications for leave transfer within a calendar year, for a maximum total of 480 hours requested per calendar year.
Each application must include a completed Shared Leave Request Form and Physician's Certification of Emergency or Life Threatening Medical Condition form.
Procedure Section 2:
Approval of application to become a leave recipient
Each application will be reviewed by Human Resources.
If the application is approved, HR will notify the leave recipient (or the personal representative who made application on behalf of the leave recipient) that:
- The application has been approved; and
- Other employees may request the transfer of annual or sick leave to the account of the leave recipient.
The leave recipient or his or her representative may then advise potential donors that they may use the Shared Leave Donation form to request transfer of some of their leave to the leave recipient's account. When soliciting leave from other employees, potential leave recipients must be careful to refrain from any activity that might be interpreted as pressuring other employees to donate leave. Potential leave recipients and their representatives must refrain from using University e-mail to solicit leave.
If the application is not approved, Human Resources will notify the applicant (or the personal representative who made application on behalf of the potential leave recipient)
- The application has not been approved; and
- The reasons for its disapproval.
Requests not approved may be appealed in writing to the Associate Vice President for Human Resources.
Procedure Section 3:
Donation of leave
An employee may submit a Shared Leave Donation Form to Human Resources, requesting that a specified number of hours of leave be transferred from his/her annual or sick leave account to the sick leave account of a specified leave recipient. Requests for leave transfers must be in 8-hour increments. A leave donor must retain a combined total of 120 hours of leave in his/her own annual and sick leave accounts (pro rated for part-time employees), unless the donation is to the leave account of his/her own spouse, child, or parent. If you wish to donate leave prior to separating from UGA (retirement, changing jobs), you may not donate more hours than you could use during the remainder of your employment. For example, if you have 10 working days until retirement, you may donate only 80 leave hours (8 hours x 10 days). The 120-hour rule still applies (see above).
The University will not transfer annual or sick leave to a leave donor's immediate or upper-level supervisor(s).
Leave transferred under this section may be substituted retroactively for a period of leave without pay.
Leave Donation Forms will be accepted until the total amount donated is equal to the amount approved by HR. Additional Leave Donation Forms received will be held until the shared leave event is over, after which time they will be destroyed.
If the leave recipient does not use all the donated leave, unused leave will be lost.
How do I donate leave?
Please read the policy & procedures above
Who is eligible to donate shared leave?
- Any benefit-eligible UGA employee who has completed his/her current probationary period may donate leave
- Limits on donations and requests by part-time employees will be pro-rated based on their percent time worked at UGA during either the past twelve months or their entire time in service at UGA, whichever term of service is shorter
How much leave may I donate?
- You may donate leave in 8-hour increments only (8, 16, 24, etc.) and
- You must reserve a minimum of 120 hours of combined sick and annual leave in your leave balance; however, there is no minimum reserve required when employees donate leave to their own spouses, parents, or children
What's the first step?
Employees who wish to donate leave should complete the Shared Leave Donation Form and follow instructions to submit the form. If approved by HR, your payroll representative will receive an email confirmation of your donation.
What happens if I change my mind and need the leave I previously donated?
Donations are irrevocable.
What happens to my donated leave if the recipient doesn't use it; for example, if the medical emergency doesn't last as long as anticipated or the recipient leaves the University before using all donated leave?
Because donations are irrevocable, unused donated hours will be lost.
If my employment with the University is coming to an end (retirement, changing jobs, etc.) and I have some unused leave, may I donate my unused leave to another employee?
You may not donate more hours than you could use during the remainder of your employment. For example, if you have 10 working days until retirement, you may donate only 80 leave hours (8 hours x 10 days).
How do I request donated leave?
Please read the policy & procedures above.
Who is eligible to request donated leave?
If you are a regular UGA benefit-eligible employee who:
- Has completed your probationary period and
- Has a life-threatening or emergency medical condition and do not have sufficient leave to cover your anticipated absence and
- Has exhausted or will soon exhaust all sick and annual leave due to your own life-threatening or emergency medical condition and
- During the resulting absence, will not receive any other monetary benefits based on employment at UGA (workers' compensation lost wage benefits, unemployment, disability, retirement, etc.)
you may submit your request for donated shared leave up to ten working days prior to the time you will exhaust all leave.
How much leave may I request?
- You may request up to 160 hours of leave per application (pro-rated for part-time employees)
- You may apply up to three times per calendar year.
What's the first step?
You should ask your physician to complete a Physician's Certification of Emergency or Life Threatening Medical Condition form. You should then complete a Shared Leave Request form and deliver both the Physician's Certification form and the Shared Leave Request form to the Shared Leave Program, Human Resources, 215 S. Jackson Street, Athens, GA 30602. If you are unable to complete this process, a representative having your documented power of attorney may complete the process on your behalf.
How will I know I have received donated leave?
Human Resources will send your payroll representative an email confirming the leave amount donated to you.
Does an employee who is using donated leave continue to accrue sick or annual leave during the time they are missing work and using donated leave?
If you are using donated leave, you will continue to accrue sick and annual leave at the same rate you would have accrued leave had you been using your own, original leave during an absence from work. Your own accrued leave will be applied to your absence before any donated leave is applied to the absence.
What happens to any transferred leave I don't use, for example, if the medical emergency doesn't last as long as I anticipated or I leave the University before using all donated leave?
Shared leave is a "use it or lose it" donation. Any unused hours are lost.
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