In October 1993 the Employee Benefits Advisory Committee addressed the possibility of establishing a “Compassionate Leave” Policy to assist with employee needs during circumstances involving a catastrophic illness or injury. Thus, in response to employees' request, the following Compassionate Leave Policy was adopted by the Governing Board on July 26, 1994.

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

An illness or injury may be considered catastrophic for the employee if it:

	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

An illness or injury may be considered catastrophic for the family member if it:

	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 form to the District Benefits Department, Attn: Compassionate Leave Committee, Confidential

An employee wishing to donate sick or vacation hours must:
 

	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)
	complete the donation authorization form for voluntary sick and/or vacation hours to be transferred
	submit the white, completed, signed copy of the donation authorization form to the District Benefits Department 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. 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.
 

Last modified: July 03, 2007

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