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Leave Sharing
It is the University's objective to allow employees to participate in a leave-sharing program.
Employees to Whom Policy Applies
This policy applies to full-time and part-time classified employees, University staff, and salaried research assistants.
Purpose
Permits eligible employees in Leave Without Pay status to receive income by using annual leave hours donated to them by other employees.
Eligibility
"Traditional" Sick Leave Program
Employees covered by traditional Sick Leave policy, may request donated annual leave as described in this policy if the employee:
- experiences leave without pay due to a personal illness or injury, or
- experiences leave without pay due to a family member's illness or injury for which the employee is using Family and Medical Leave.
Virginia Sickness and Disability Program
Employees covered by Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP), may request donated annual leave as described in this policy if the employee experiences leave without pay due to a family member’s illness or injury for which the employee is using Family and Medical Leave.
NOTE: Employees who participate in the VSDP receive program benefits for personal injury or illness and, therefore, are not eligible for leave donations for these reasons.
Requests/Approvals
A qualified employee may request donated leave by contacting the University Human Resource Office or following University procedures. The University may develop a form for this purpose, or prescribe the process by which an employee should request leave sharing. (In the event that an employee is physically or mentally unable to initiate a request, a family member or the University may do so.)
Physician's Certification
To be eligible to receive donated annual leave, the employee must provide the University with a physician’s certification of his/her medical condition including the date it began and its probable duration.
For family illnesses or injuries, normal documentation under Family and Medical Leave is required.
Employees may receive leave share donations only for periods of absence that are covered by personal or family FMLA medical certifications.
A certification by a second physician of the University's choice may be required. However, the University will bear the cost of a second opinion.
Any medical documentation must be maintained confidentially and in a location that is separate from the employee’s official personnel file. This information must be destroyed in accordance with the Library of Virginia’s General Records Retention and Disposition Schedules for State Agencies.
LWOP Status
Before being eligible to receive continued pay through the Leave Sharing program, an employee must have exhausted all personal leave balances (annual, traditional sick, VSDP family/personal, compensatory, overtime, and any VSDP personal sick leave that may be used for FMLA family reasons) and be designated in a leave without pay (LWOP) status.
Benefits while on LWOP
A leave share recipient will not accrue annual leave, traditional sick leave, or VSDP leave credits while receiving pay through leave donations.
Leave and Holidays
Recipients of leave share donations are not eligible to receive pay for holidays. Additionally, they may not receive any salary increases until they return to a pay status.
An employee's leave anniversary date is affected by periods of leave without pay.
Health Benefits
While an employee is receiving leave share donations for personal illness or injury, the University will continue to pay its portion of the health care premium for up to 12 months.
While an employee is receiving leave share donations for absences due to FMLA family reasons, the University will continue to pay its portion of the health care premium for the period covered by FMLA.
VRS Contributions
Periods of leave share are not considered creditable compensation for retirement calculations by the Virginia Retirement System (VRS). Therefore, contributions to VRS will be discontinued when an employee is receiving leave share donations.
Payroll Deductions
Certain payroll deductions may continue while an employee is receiving leave share donations if the employee receives income replacement sufficient to cover the deductions. Among these are health care premiums and other voluntary deductions.
If the income replacement received through leave share donations is insufficient to cover such deductions, the employee must make arrangements with the University to continue or cancel the deductions.
However, employees who are under contract to purchase VRS service credit may not have this deducted from their leave share checks and must make arrangements with VRS to continue their payments.
Group Life Insurance
Employees receiving leave share donations continue to be covered under the Commonwealth's group life insurance policy for up to two years.
Waiting Period
The University does not require a waiting period for leave sharing.
Disciplinary Suspensions
NOTE: Employees are ineligible to use donated leave during the period of any disciplinary suspensions.
Procedures for Donations
A donor may authorize donations of accrued annual leave according to the guidelines of the University in minimum increments of 8 hours by completing a Donor Form and submitting it to the Human Resource Office.
Donors do not have to retain any minimum leave balances, nor is there a limit on the number of annual leave hours they may donate.
Interagency Donations
The University does not accept leave sharing donations from other agencies unless the donation is for an eligible family member.
Donations for Family Members
The University must accept annual leave donations from employees in other Executive Branch agencies for family members who are eligible to receive leave share donations under this policy.
Family members eligible for such donations include the employee's spouse, parents/step-parents, siblings/step-siblings and children/step-children.
NOTE: The definition of family members who may donate leave to employees differs from the definition of family members for whom an employee may use FMLA leave.
Returning Leave Donations
If an employee receives donated leave in excess of the amount needed to cover his or her absence, the excess leave will be returned to the donors in reverse order of the receipt of donations.
Leave given by a donor may be reclaimed by the donor only if the donation has not yet been processed.
Exclusions
For Employees Covered by Traditional Sick Leave
Medical conditions of the employee will be excluded from eligibility for leave sharing benefits if they result from:
- any occupational-related accident or illness for the period for which Workers' Compensation (WC) benefits have been awarded or could have been awarded, if the employee had cooperated with WC Program requirements;
- intentionally self-inflicted injuries, except as a result of conditions that qualify under ADA; or
- injuries occurring in the course of violating a law.
For Family Members
Medical conditions of the family member will be excluded from eligibility for leave sharing benefits if they result from:
- intentionally self-inflicted injuries, except as a result of conditions that qualify under ADA; or
- injuries occurring in the course of violating a law.
Reimbursement Required
Recipients shall be required to reimburse the University for pay received for donated annual leave hours when either of the following situations occurs:
- when an employee receives compensation through the leave sharing program and, subsequently, receives retroactive workers' compensation benefits for that same period of time; or
- when the employee's agency determines that abuse has occurred.
If recipients reimburse the University in situations described above, leave hours will be returned to the original donor(s) according to University guidelines.
Penalties for Abuse
If abuse is verified, the recipient will be required to repay the cost of all donated leave at the salary rate in effect at the time the employee was placed on leave without pay. Additionally, the employee may be disciplined in accordance with provisions of Standards of Conduct policy.
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