Shared Leave

Approval Date April 8, 2020

Steward Associate VP for Human Resource Services

Approval Authority Senior Leadership Group

This policy applies to:

This policy applies to all non-represented classified and non-represented exempt, non-faculty employees of The Evergreen State College.

This policy does not apply to College faculty, represented classified staff, represented exempt employees in the Student Supports Services Staff Union (SSSSU), temporary hourly employees, or student employees.

A. Purpose

The purpose of the leave sharing program is to permit state employees, at no significantly increased cost to the State, to come to the aid of another state employee who is likely to go on leave without pay status or terminate state employment because the employee:

Has been called to service in the uniformed services;

Is responding to a state of emergency anywhere within the United States declared by the federal or state government;

Is taking parental leave to bond with their newborn, adoptive or foster child;

Is sick or temporarily disabled because of pregnancy;

Has been a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking;

Is suffering from or has a relative or household member suffering from an extraordinary or severe illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition;

Is a current member of the uniformed services or is a veteran as defined under RCW 41.04.005, and is attending medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability; or

Is a spouse of a current member of the uniformed services or a veteran as defined under RCW 41.04.005, who is attending medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability and requires assistance while attending appointment or treatment.

The College’s shared leave program is administered by the Associate Vice President for Human Resource Services or their designee.

B. Definitions

For purposes of the leave sharing program, the following definitions apply:

Domestic violence: Physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or the infliction of fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, or assault, between family or household members as defined in RCW 26.50.010; sexual assault of one family or household member by another family or household member; or stalking as defined in RCW 9A.46.110 of one family or household member by another family or household member.

Employee: An employee who is entitled to accrue sick leave or vacation leave and for whom accurate leave records are maintained.

Employee’s relative: Normally will be limited to the employee’s spouse, state registered domestic partner as defined by RCW 26.60.020 and 26.60.030, child, stepchild, grandchild, grandparent, or parent.

Household members: Persons who reside in the same home who have reciprocal duties to and do provide financial support for one another. This term will include, but is not limited to, foster children and legal wards. The term does not include persons sharing the same general house when the living style is primarily that of a dormitory or commune.

Parental leave: Leave to bond and to care for a newborn child after birth or to bond and care for a child after placement for adoption or foster care.

Pregnancy disability leave: Leave for pregnancy-related medical condition or miscarriage.

Service in the uniformed services: The performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, full-time national guard duty including state-ordered active duty, and a period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of the person to perform any such duty.

"Severe" or "extraordinary" condition: Serious or extreme and/or life threatening.

Sexual assault: Has the same meaning as in RCW 70.125.030.

Shortly deplete: When an employee has forty hours or less of vacation leave and sick leave.

Stalking: Has the same meaning as in RCW 9A.46.110.

Uniformed services: The armed forces, the army national guard, and the air national guard of any state, territory, commonwealth, possession, or district when engaged in active duty for training, inactive duty training, fulltime national guard duty, or state active duty, the commissioned corps of the public health service, the coast guard, and any other category of persons designated by the President of the United States in time of war or national emergency.

Victim: A person against whom domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking has been committed as defined in this policy.

C. Shared Leave Receipt

An employee may be eligible to receive shared leave if the College has determined the employee meets any of the following criteria:

The employee
1. suffers from, or has a relative or household member suffering from, an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition which is of an extraordinary or severe nature;
2. has been called to service in the uniformed services;
3. A state of emergency has been declared anywhere within the United States by the federal or any state government and the employee has the needed skills to assist in responding to an emergency or its aftermath and volunteers their services to either a governmental agency or to a nonprofit organization engaged in humanitarian relief in the devastated area, and the governmental agency or nonprofit organization accepts the employee’s offer of volunteer services;
4. is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or
5. is taking parental leave and/or pregnancy disability leave.
6. is a current member of the uniformed services or is a veteran as defined under RCW 41.04.005, and is attending medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability; or
7. is the spouse of a current member of the uniformed services or a veteran as defined under RCW 41.04.005, who is attending medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability and requires assistance while attending appointments or treatment.

2.The illness, injury, impairment, condition, call to service, emergency volunteer service, consequence of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or parental and/or pregnancy disability leave has caused, or is likely to cause, the employee to:

a. Go on leave without pay status; or

b. Terminate state employment.

3. The employee’s absence and the use of shared leave are justified.

The employee has depleted or will shortly deplete:
1. Vacation leave, sick leave and personal holiday if the employee qualifies under Subsection C.1(a);
2. Vacation leave and paid military leave allowed under RCW 38.40.060 if the employee qualifies under Subsection C.1(b);
3. Vacation leave or personal holiday if the employee qualifies under Subsections C.1(c), or C.1(d); or
4. Personal holiday and compensatory time if the employee qualifies under Subsection C.1(e).
The employee has abided by the College’s policy regarding:
1. Sick leave use if the employee qualifies under Subsections C.1(a), (d), and (e); or
2. Military leave if the employee qualifies under Subsection C.1(b).
The employee has diligently pursued and been found to be ineligible for benefits under RCW 51.32 if the employee qualifies under Subsection C.1(a).

D. Shared Leave Use

The College will determine the amount of leave, if any, that an employee may receive. However, the College may not prevent an employee from using leave intermittently or on nonconsecutive days so long as the leave has not been returned under RCW 41.04.665(10) and Subsection F.6 below.

An employee will not receive more than five hundred twenty-two (522) days of shared leave during total state employment. The College may authorize leave in excess of five hundred twenty-two (522) days in extraordinary circumstances for an employee qualifying for the program because the employee is suffering from an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition which is of an extraordinary or severe nature.

An employee receiving industrial insurance wage replacement benefits may not receive greater than twenty-five percent (25%) of their base salary from the receipt of shared leave.

The College will require the employee to submit, prior to approval or disapproval:
1. A medical certificate from a licensed physician or health care practitioner verifying the employee’s required absence, the description of the medical problem, and expected date of return-to-work status for shared leave under Subsection C.1(a);
2. Verification of child birth or placement of adoption or foster care, or of a medical certificate from a licensed physician or health care provider verifying the pregnancy disability when the employee is qualified under parental leave and/or pregnancy disability leave in Subsection C.1(e).
3. A copy of the military orders verifying the employee’s required absence for shared leave under Subsection C.1(b); or
4. Proof of acceptance of an employee’s offer to volunteer for either a governmental agency or a nonprofit organization during a declared state of emergency for shared leave under Subsection C.1(c).
The College may require the employee to submit, prior to approval or disapproval, verification of the employee’s status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking for shared leave under Subsection C.1(d). Such verification will be in accordance with the Domestic Violence Leave Act, RCW 49.76 and may be one or more of the following:
1. An employee’s own written statement;
2. A statement from an attorney or advocate, member of the clergy, or medical or other professional; and/or
3. A court order or police report documenting the employee is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.
Parental leave -
1. Effective until June 10, 2020, parental leave received under this policy must be used within sixteen (16) weeks immediately after birth or placement.
2. Effective June 11, 2020, parental leave received under this policy must be used within sixteen (16) weeks immediately after birth or placement. However, if an employee receiving parental leave also receives leave due to pregnancy disability, the parental leave may be taken in the sixteen (16) weeks immediately after the pregnancy disability leave.

Parental leave may not be used more than one (1) year after birth or placement.

The College should consider other methods of accommodating the employee’s needs, such as modified duty, modified hours, flex-time or special assignments in lieu of shared leave usage.

Donated leave may be transferred from employees within the same College, or with the approval of the heads or designees of both higher education institutions, state agencies or school districts/educational service districts, to an employee of another higher education institution, state agency or school district/educational service district.

Vacation leave, sick leave, or all or part of a personal holiday transferred from a donating employee will be used solely for the purpose stated in this policy.

The receiving employee will be paid their regular rate of pay; therefore, the value of one (1) hour of shared leave may cover more or less than one (1) hour of the recipient’s salary.

Eight (8) hours a month of accrued and/or shared leave may be used to provide for the continuation of benefits as provided for by the Public Employee’s Benefit Board.

The College will respond in writing to shared leave requests within fourteen (14) calendar days of receipt of a properly completed request.

E. Leave Donation

An employee may donate vacation leave, sick leave, or personal holiday to another employee for purposes of the leave sharing program under the following conditions:

The College approves the employee’s request to donate a specified amount of vacation leave to an employee authorized to receive shared leave; and
1. The full-time employee’s request to donate leave will not cause their vacation leave balance to fall below eighty (80) hours. For part-time employees, requirements for vacation leave balances will be prorated; and
2. Employees may not donate excess vacation leave that they would not be able to take due to an approaching anniversary date; except when the request for vacation leave was denied and the vacation leave was deferred.
The College approves the employee’s request to donate a specified amount of sick leave to an employee authorized to receive shared leave. The employee’s request to donate leave will not cause their sick leave balance to fall below one hundred seventy-six (176) hours after the transfer.

The College approves the employee’s request to donate all or part of their personal holiday to an employee authorized to receive shared leave.
1. That portion of a personal holiday that is accrued, donated as shared leave, and then returned during the same calendar year to the donating employee, may be taken by the donating employee in full day increments.
2. An employee will be allowed to split the personal holiday only when donating a portion of the personal holiday to the shared leave program.
No employee may be intimidated, threatened, coerced, or financially induced into donating leave for purposes of this program.

F. Shared Leave Administration

The calculation of the recipient’s leave value will be in accordance with applicable Office of Financial Management (OFM) policies, regulations, and procedures. The leave received will be coded as shared leave and be maintained separately from all other leave balances. Employees under the qualifications listed in Subsection C.1 may retain and reserve up to forty (40) hours each of vacation leave and sick leave.

An employee on leave transferred under these rules will continue to be classified as a state employee and will receive the same treatment in respect to salary, wages, and employee benefits as the employee would normally receive if using accrued vacation leave or sick leave.

All salary and wage payments made to employees while on leave transferred under the shared leave rules will be made by the agency/institution employing the person receiving the leave.

Where state agencies/institutions have approved the transfer of leave by an employee of one agency/institution to an employee of another agency/institution, the agencies/institutions involved will arrange for the transfer of funds and credit for the appropriate value of leave in accordance with Office of Financial Management (OFM) policies, regulations, and procedures.

Leave transferred under this Section will not be used in any calculation to determine an allocation of full-time equivalent staff positions.

Any shared leave not used by the recipient will be returned to the donor(s). Before returning unused leave:
1. The College will obtain a statement from the receiving employee’s doctor verifying whether the employee’s injury or illness is resolved; or
2. The employee must be released to regular employment; has not received additional medical treatment for their current condition or any other qualifying condition for at least six (6) months; and their doctor has declined, in writing, the employee’s request for a statement indicating the employee’s condition has been resolved.

The remaining shared leave is to be divided on a pro rata basis among the donors and reinstated to the respective donors’ appropriate leave balances based upon each employee’s current salary rate at the time of the reversion. The shared leave returned will be prorated back based on the donor’s original donation.

Unused shared leave may not be cashed out but will be returned to the donors per Subsection F.6, above.

An employee who uses leave that is transferred under this policy will not be required to repay the value of the leave that the employee used.

If a shared leave account is closed and an employee later has the need to use shared leave due to the same condition listed in the closed account, the College must approve a new shared leave request for the employee.

G. Shared Leave under Governor’s Proclamation 20-05

Duration of this provision

This section of the policy is in effect until the expiration of the Governor’s Proclamation 20-05 or any amendment thereto, whichever is later.

Eligibility

In accordance with RCW 41.04.665(1)(f) (effective March 17, 2020) and Proclamation 20-05, issued by the Governor on February 29, 2020, an employee may be eligible to receive shared leave if the College has determined the employee, or employee’s relative or household member is isolated or quarantined as recommended, requested, or ordered by a public health official or health care provider as a result of suspected or confirmed infection with or exposure to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Shared Leave receipt

In order for an employee to receive shared leave under this section, the employee will provide the College a written medical statement from the public health official or health care provider:

Verifying the nature of the condition; and
The expected duration of the condition.

The requirement to provide a written medical statement as referenced in this subsection may be waived by the College when an employee is unable to obtain such a statement from the public health official or health care provider due to the COVID-19 crisis.If an employee is unable to provide a written medical statement, the maximum allowable amount of shared leave that a full-time employee may receive is eighty (80) hours.For part-time employees, the maximum amount of shared leave will be prorated.

The President has designated the Associate Vice President for Human Resource Services or designee with the authority to approve shared leave without a written medical statement.

The College will permit use of shared leave under Subsection G without needing to meet the criteria listed in Subsections C.1 though C.5 above.

Shared Leave use

Employees who are granted shared leave may use the leave intermittently or on nonconsecutive days and in accordance with Subsection D.1 and D.5 through D.9.