Donated Sick Leave

1.0    Purpose

This policy establishes guidelines for employees to donate accrued sick leave to a leave pool to cover absences of eligible employees that meet FMLA guidelines.

2.0    Revision History

3.0    Persons Affected

3.1    All employees who are eligible to accrue and use paid sick leave and who have been continuously employed as a benefits eligible employee for not less than 12 months.

4.0    Policy

The policy of Casper College is to ensure the following.

4.1    Sick leave donations are voluntary and irrevocable.

4.2    Employees may donate 8 hours of sick leave per year. No employee may donate sick leave if, after that donation, the employee’s sick leave balance is less than 80 hours.

4.3    No employee may receive more than 80 hours of donated sick leave during a designated 12-month period. Employees do not accrue donated sick leave.

4.4    The college requests donated leave annually. The donated sick leave pool is capped at 480 hours.

4.5    Employees use annual, sick, birth or adoption, converted, or sick leave, compensatory time, or any other applicable leave before they are eligible to request donated sick leave. Employees do not accrue annual or sick leave while using donated leave.

4.6    Administrative and classified employees take leave in accordance with the Sick Leave for Administrative and Classified Staff Employees policy.

4.7 Employees receiving workers compensation or long-term disability payments cannot receive donated sick leave. Employees may use donated sick leave to bridge the 90-day elimination period for a long-term disability.

5.0    Definitions

5.1 Administrative. This job classification includes professional, non-faculty positions responsible for the management or operations of the college. Administrative employees are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act.

5.2    Classified. This job classification includes operational support positions. Classified employees are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

5.3    Sick Leave. This is paid leave that administrative and classified employees earn to use for the employee’s medical care, for the medical care of the employee’s or employee’s spouse/partner’s family or for someone who resides in the employee’s home.

5.4    Designated 12-Month Period. This is the 12-month period the college has selected for FMLA, emergency, or birth or adoption leave. The 12-month period will be measured forward from the first date that a respective leave begins.

5.5    Serious Health Condition. An illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either an overnight stay in a medical care facility or continuing treatment by a health care provider for a condition that either prevents the employee from performing the functions of her job or prevents the qualified family member from daily activities.

5.6    Continuing Treatment. Continuing treatment is incapacity of more than three consecutive calendar days combined with at least two visits to a health care provider or one visit and a regimen of continuing treatment, incapacity due to pregnancy, or incapacity due to a chronic condition. Other conditions may meet the definition of continuing treatment.

5.7    Donated Sick Leave Request Form. Employees, or if the employee is incapacitated the employee’s family member, uses this form to request donated sick leave for a serious health conditions, which have caused or are likely to cause an employee to take leave without pay.

5.8    Donated Sick Leave Form. Employees use this form to notify the Human Resources Department that they want to donate to the sick leave pool.

6.0    Responsibilities

6.1    Administrative and classified employees are responsible for initiating the process to request donated leave for a serious health condition.

6.2    The director of human resources is responsible for ensuring compliance to this policy.

7.0    Procedures

7.1    Donated Leave

7.1.1    Employees who want to donate sick leave submit a Donated Sick Leave form to the Human Resources Department annually in June. If the pool is depleted prior to June, the Human Resources Department may request additional donations, if needed. Any excess leave on June 30 will rollover to the next year.

7.1.2    The Human Resources Department will verify that the employee is eligible to donate leave and will transfer all approved donated leave up to the pool cap to the leave pool on June 30.

7.2    Requesting and Using Donated Leave

7.2.1    Employees submit a Donated Sick Leave Request form and provide certification as defined under the Family and Medical Leave Act to the director of human resources as soon as there is a recognized need but prior to the employee returning to work. A family member may submit the request form if the employee is incapacitated.

7.2.2    The director of human resources reviews requests to verify eligibility. The director will notify employees whether or not they qualify for donated sick leave.

7.2.3    Employees complete the Leave Notification form per the sick leave policy.