Shared Sick Leave

Policy Number: 8.2.7.2.1
Effective Date: February 27, 2023
Revision History: May 26, 2016
Policy Contact: Director, Payroll and Benefits

I. Purpose and Policy Statement

The purpose of the Shared Sick Leave Program is to provide a means for Georgia Gwinnett College employees to donate accrued sick leave to a pool to be used by fellow GGC employees who are eligible for and require leave while experiencing a life-threatening or emergency medical condition as defined, and which has caused, or is likely to cause, the employee to take leave without pay.

II. Scope

This program applies to all regular, benefit-eligible employees of GGC who earn or accrue sick leave and have completed their provisional employment period with the College

III. Definitions

Employee: Any regular, benefit-eligible employee of the College who earns or accrues sick leave as a benefit of his/her employment by the College.

Immediate family member: A child, spouse, or parent, but not in-laws.

Leave donor: An employee making a voluntary written request for irrevocable transfer of sick leave to the leave pool. Once leave has been transferred to the leave pool, it may not be used by the donor for any other benefit purposes.

Leave recipient: A current employee who has completed the provisional employment period and for whom the College’s Shared Leave Certification Committee has approved an application to receive leave from the leave pool. The recipient may use donated leave for any purpose authorized under the Board of Regents Policy Manual 8.2.7.2 and which meets the definition of life-threatening or emergency medical condition as described below.

Life-threatening or emergency medical condition: A health condition involving a serious, extreme, or life-threatening illness, injury, impairment, or condition of the employee or immediate family member 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.

Leave pool: Accumulated sick leave donated by employees to be used in accordance with this policy. A minimum donation of eight (8) hours sick leave per calendar year is required to become a member of the leave pool. Should the donated leave pool reserve drop to less than 120 hours, the pool will be considered depleted. All donors will be, in this situation only, and upon notification of the depleted status of the pool, automatically charged eight (8) hours per donor, unless the donor wishes to withdraw from the program. Leave requests will be honored in the order in which they were placed when the pool is replenished. The automatic charge to replenish the pool may occur only one time per calendar year. At that time the College may initiate a special open enrollment period to accept additional program participants. Should the pool be depleted a second time in a given calendar year, no further requests for donated leave will be accepted.

Shared Leave Certification Committee: The committee consisting of one staff member from Payroll and Benefits, one faculty member, and one staff member from a work unit other than Payroll and Benefits.

IV. Process and Procedures

1. Donation of Leave
   1. Employees will be given the opportunity to donate a specified number of hours of sick leave (in 8 hour increments) from their sick leave accounts to the donated leave pool during the annual Open Enrollment period for benefits by completing a Donor Transfer Certification form. The donated leave will be transferred to the donated leave pool at the same time other benefit elections are effective (normally January 1). An employee who donates leave must retain a minimum of forty (40) hours of personal sick leave in his/her own sick leave account. A participating employee shall not be allowed to donate to the pool any unused or unpaid sick leave from the employee’s personal account at the time of separation from the University System of Georgia, including retirement.
   2. Once an employee has transferred a minimum of 8 hours’ leave into the leave pool, i.e. has become a “member” of the pool, a minimum of 8 hours leave will be automatically transferred during each subsequent yearly benefits open enrollment period.
   3. An employee may opt out of the pool prior to the yearly automatic transfer by informing the Office of Payroll and Benefits in writing. If an employee opts out of the leave pool, the employee will no longer be eligible to apply for donated leave for that year. The employee may re-enroll in a subsequent year during the annual open enrollment period for benefits to become eligible to apply for donated leave.
2. Eligibility for Benefits
   1. In order to be eligible to receive donated leave, the employee must:
      1. Be a member of the donated leave pool;
      2. Have completed the initial provisional period of employment;
      3. Provide certification from a licensed physician of a life-threatening or emergency medical condition that is not work related and not covered by Workers Compensation;
      4. Have exhausted all sick and annual leave (or provide credible medical evidence that he or she will have exhausted all sick and annual leave before the medical condition is resolved);
      5. Not be eligible for or receiving other benefits (Supplemental Security Income, short-term or long-term disability, workers compensation, retirement benefits, etc.); and,
      6. Not be on leave prior to the beginning of the plan year, except where evidence of extraordinary circumstances is presented for consideration.
   2. The employee will continue to accrue sick leave during his/her absence as long as they are paid at least one half of a monthly salary. Accrued leave will be applied to the absence before donated leave is applied.
3. Application for Benefits
   1. An eligible employee may request donated leave by completing the Donated Leave Request form, obtaining a completed Physician’s Certification form, and submitting these documents to the Shared Leave Certification Committee in care of the Office of Payroll and Benefits. If the employee is not capable of making application on his or her own behalf, a personal representative, having documented power of attorney for the employee, may make written application on behalf of the employee.
   2. Upon request, a potential leave recipient may receive up to 160 hours of donated leave at one time, and may make up to two (2) additional requests for donated leave within a calendar year, for a maximum total of 480 hours per year within a five (5) year period. The requests may be consecutive. Any unused sick leave not used by a recipient will be forfeited and returned back to the donated leave pool.
   3. When a donated leave pool member is eligible for workers’ compensation, unemployment, disability, retirement benefits, etc., he or she shall not be granted sick leave credits.
4. Approval Process
   1. Each request will be reviewed by the Office of Payroll and Benefits in conjunction with the Shared Leave Certification Committee. The Vice President for Human Resources and Chief of Staff or his/her designee will appoint these committee members for a renewable term of one (1) year. The committee member from the Office of Payroll and Benefits or his or her designee will carry out the administrative functions of the committee.
   2. If any member of the Shared Leave Certification Committee is from the potential leave recipient’s department, that committee member will be replaced by an alternate, designated by the Vice President for Human Resources and Chief of Staff.
   3. If any committee member(s) is unavailable to perform the functions of the committee due to illness, vacation, or other reason, or is unable to provide a timely decision for any given applicant, the Vice President for Human Resources and Chief of Staff or her designee(s), will serve as substitute ad hoc member(s) of the committee.
   4. The committee’s decision to approve or disapprove a request for donated leave will be by simple majority vote and may be the result of communication by email, telephone, or other means in lieu of meeting together in one location.
   5. If the request is approved, the Office of Payroll and Benefits will notify the Shared Leave Coordinator (a designated employee within the Office of Payroll and Benefits). The Office of Payroll and Benefits will notify the applicant (or the personal representative who applied on behalf of the employee) within five (5) working days after the date the completed request for donated leave is received by the committee that:
      1. The request has been approved; and the employee may begin drawing leave from the pool, and if the employee has entered the status of leave without pay, that the approved donated leave may be substituted retroactively to cover the period of leave without pay. OR
      2. The request has been denied; and the reason for the denial.
5. Appeal. Requests which have been denied may be appealed in writing to the Vice President for Human Resources and Chief of Staff. A decision of the Vice President represents the final institutional decision on the matter.
6. Termination of Membership
   1. An employee may withdraw from the pool at any time by completing a new Donor Transfer Certification form, indicating their intent to cancel participation in the Shared Sick Leave Program and submit the form to the Office of Payroll and Benefits. Any leave contributed to the pool prior to the withdrawal shall be forfeited. The employee will no longer be eligible to apply for donated leave after the effective date of their cancellation and will not be able to re-enroll until the next Open Enrollment period.
   2. When a participating employee has used the maximum number of hours for which he or she is eligible, his/her membership in the pool will automatically terminate. The maximum withdrawal amount during a calendar year is 480 hours (12 weeks). To re-enroll, the employee will be subject to the initial enrollment requirements for membership.

V. Confidentiality

Any medical information provided to the Shared Leave Certification Committee will remain confidential and will not be shared except with employees in the Office of Payroll and Benefits on a need-to-know basis.

VI. Related Regulations, Statutes, Policies, and Procedures

BOR HRAP Policy on Shared Sick Leave Program