Compassionate Leave provides for the voluntary and confidential transfer of vacation and sick hours from one employee to a fund where another employee may use those hours to supplement lost wages during the first 90 days of disability. All information relating to the donation and request of a compassionate leave is confidential.
The leave must be due to a catastrophic set of circumstances resulting from a non-work related illness or injury to the employee, which prevents the employee, from returning to work for a specified period of time.
Compassionate Leave is:- voluntary and confidential transfer of sick or vacation hours
- supplemental income used for catastrophic illness or injury
- available only after all sick, vacation, or compensatory time has been exhausted
- donated during the open enrollment period
- is a non-work related illness or injury
- results in the employee being unable to perform all duties of his/her active regular assignment
- is seriously incapacitating, such as those that have the potential for permanent disability
- is anticipated that the duration of the disability is at least 30 consecutive calendar days
- is seriously incapacitating such as those that have the potential for permanent disability
- is anticipated that the duration of the disability is at least 30 consecutive calendar days
Family members include spouse/partner, children, or parents of an employee. This excludes in-laws except under extreme circumstances.
An employee requesting compassionate leave must:- be in an active, regular assignment receiving a pay check
- be covered by a policy manual and/or be Governing Board approved
- have or need to care for a family member with a catastrophic illness or injury verified by a physician to be catastrophic
- be prevented from returning to work for a minimum of 30 consecutive calendar days
- have exhausted all sick leave, compensatory time, and vacation
- submit a completed application to the District Benefits Department, Attn: Compassionate Leave Committee, Confidential
- be covered by a policy manual and/or be Governing Board approved
- retain a minimum of 240 hours of sick leave after the donation (No minimum balance is required for vacation hours)
- submit a request through the HRMS Self Service option for voluntary sick and/or vacation hours to be transferred
- this must be completed during Open Enrollment
The value of donated sick or vacation hours will be adjusted proportionately from the wages of the employee donating the hours to the wages of the employee receiving the donation.
The recipient may receive up to one-third of his/her wages up to the first 90 days of the disability period. A Combination of Short term disability insurance, if purchased, and Compassionate Leave benefits is not to exceed 100% of the employee's regular wages.
All unused leave that has been donated will revert to the Compassionate Leave Pool if the leave recipient terminates from the District, returns to work prior to using all leave donated, or if the need for the leave is otherwise abated. Compassionate Leave ends upon the employee's return to work, termination from the District, or entry into the Mid-term Disability Program.