Sick Leave Bank Policy and Procedures

Philosophy and Scope
Definitions for the Purpose of this Policy and Procedures
Responsible Senior Leader and Responsible Office
Entities Affected by this Policy and Procedures
Approved Uses and Exclusions
Membership
Procedures
Administration
Records

I. Philosophy and Scope

The Sick Leave Bank (SLB) is a mechanism for participating College employees to donate unused sick leave time into a source of combined sick leave for other employees to use who have a prolonged illness or injury. The SLB is not intended to be a replacement for short-term disability insurance and employees are encouraged to secure their own short-term disability coverage. More information about short-term disability insurance is available from the Office of Human Resources.

Full-time regular administrators and support staff, part-time regular administrators and support staff working at least 17.5 hours per week, full-time faculty, and full-time auxiliary employees are eligible to participate after continuous employment for twelve (12) months.

Once employees contribute time to the SLB, the employee surrenders all rights to the contributed time. Employees do not need to repay days used from the SLB.

SLB use is only available to eligible employees who are enrolled in the SLB and have exhausted all their accrued leave.

Employees utilizing the SLB may also have requirements and rights under Family Medical Leave laws as outlined in the College Leave Benefits Policy and Procedures.

II. Definitions for the Purpose of this Policy and Procedures

“Long-Term Disability Insurance” refers to an insurance product that replaces one’s income for an extended period of time in the event of a disability.
“Prolonged Illness or Injury” refers to a medical condition requiring an employee to be absent from work on a continuous or intermittent basis for an extended period of time.
“Extended Period of Time” refers to a period of time that is four (4) or more weeks in duration.
“Temporary or Short-Term Condition” refers to a period of time that is less than four (4) weeks in duration.
“Short-Term Disability Insurance” refers to an insurance product that replaces one’s income for a short period of time in the event of a disability.
“Sick Leave Bank (SLB)” refers to a pooled source of paid sick leave which provides a mechanism for participating College employees to donate unused sick leave time for other employees to use for their own prolonged illness or injury.

III. Responsible Senior Leader and Responsible Office

Vice President for Talent and Culture
Office of Human Resources

IV. Entities Affected by this Policy and Procedures

Full-time regular administrators and support staff, part-time regular administrators and support staff working at least 17.5 hours per week, full-time faculty, and full-time auxiliary employees are eligible to participate after continuous employment for twelve (12) months.

V. Approved Uses and Exclusions

The SLB is only for an employee’s prolonged illness or injury as supported by medical certification from a licensed medical professional, to include a diagnosis and estimated timeframe for the absence, and documented on the Sick Leave Bank Request Form. It is not for temporary, short-term conditions.
An eligible employee may be granted leave from the SLB only when accrued sick, personal, and annual leave have been exhausted.
Leave for surgery will be approved only for surgery that is medically necessary and supported by medical certification from a licensed medical professional, and documented on the Sick Leave Bank Request Form.
Leave under this Policy and Procedures applies to the employee only. Leave under this Policy and Procedures will not be approved for illness or injury of any members of an employee’s family or to care for or assist other persons who are ill or disabled.
SLB benefits are not available for a condition or disability that is covered under Workers’ Compensation laws.
Sick leave from the SLB is contingent upon the balance of available hours in the bank.
Full-time regular administrators, support staff, and full-time faculty may use sick leave from the SLB for up to a cumulative maximum of sixty (60) days within a 2-year period. An annual maximum of thirty (30) sick leave days may be granted in any 12-month period. For part-time regular administrators and support staff working at least 17.5 hours per week, the maximum use for SLB is prorated based on the employee’s schedule. For employees using SLB on an intermittent basis, the maximum use for SLB is prorated based on the number of hours the employee is unable to work. Once an employee has used the cumulative maximum number of SLB days/hours, they must wait a period of two (2) years before drawing leave from the SLB again, and are limited to these same terms and conditions. There is no limit to the number of times this cycle may be repeated.
Employees must have filed accompanying paperwork under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (if eligible). FMLA will run concurrently with the usage of hours from the Sick Leave Bank.
While using SLB hours, and once FMLA is exhausted, the employee will not accrue annual, personal, or sick leave time.
If the employee becomes eligible for long-term disability benefits, no additional leave days will be granted from the SLB.

VI. Membership

The open enrollment period for the SLB is May 1 through May 31 each fiscal year for an effective date of July 1. New employees are eligible to enroll after twelve (12) months of continuous employment. New enrollments are processed
on the first day following twelve (12) months of continuous employment. Eligible employees who do not have the required amount of accrued sick leave to enroll at that time must wait until the next open enrollment period.
Eligible full-time regular administrators and support staff and full-time faculty become a member of the SLB by donating one (1) day of sick leave to the SLB at the time of enrollment.

For eligible part-time regular administrators and support staff working at least 17.5 hours per week, donation time assessed and sick leave granted under this plan will be prorated based on the employee’s schedule.
The SLB balance will be assessed annually by Human Resources. The annual donation for continuing enrollment will be determined annually, and may be up to seven (7) hours per year. Current members are able to donate additional time to the SLB at the time of open enrollment, up to a maximum of seven (7) hours.
Contributions for new enrollments to the SLB must be authorized by the employee on the Sick Leave Bank Enrollment Form and submitted to Human Resources. Authorizations will be automatically renewed each year unless revoked by the member in writing to Human Resources prior to May 31.
The annual contribution will be deducted from the employee’s sick leave balance during the July 15 pay period each year and placed in the SLB. If the employee does not have the annual contribution on July 15, the contribution will be deducted as soon as it is accrued.

VII. Procedures

Requests to use the SLB must be made to Human Resources using the Sick Leave Bank Request Form. This form contains a medical certification section that must be completed by a licensed medical professional to confirm eligibility for the SLB by verifying an employee’s prolonged personal illness or injury.
Human Resources will evaluate the SLB application based on the following criteria:
1. The employee is an eligible member of the SLB;
2. The employee is eligible to utilize the SLB within the prescribed annual and cumulative maximum usage guidelines;
3. The employee has used all of their accumulated sick, personal, and annual leave for the prolonged personal illness or injury;
4. The leave is due to the employee’s prolonged personal illness or injury, as supported by medical certification from a licensed medical professional;
5. The SLB has sufficient balance to grant the request.
Human Resources will review all requests within ten (10) workdays and approve all requests which meet the eligibility criteria. If a request does not meet the eligibility criteria the employee will be notified in writing by Human Resources.
SLB requests will be reviewed and approved in the order in which they are received. If the requests exceed the available balance of the SLB, Human Resources will ask the SLB membership to contribute additional hours to accommodate all of the requests.
Upon approval, Human Resources will add the approved leave to the employee’s sick leave balance and assist in the coordination of its usage.
At the end of the leave, a return to work medical certification from a licensed medical professional must be submitted to Human Resources. Any unused approved sick leave bank time will be returned to the SLB.

VIII. Administration

The College will notify the SLB membership if the SLB balance drops to 25% or less than its balance at the time of open enrollment.
Employees wishing to appeal decisions regarding the SLB may use the Complaint Policy and Procedures for Employees.

IX. Records

SLB documentation and medical certifications contain protected health information and will be kept confidential and retained by the Office for Human Resources in accordance with the College record retention schedule.

The Vice President of Talent and Culture will provide the President with an annual, detailed report on the use of the Sick Leave Bank and its balance in June.