Purpose:
The purpose of the Foster Parent Shared Leave Pool (FPSLP) is to allow employees to voluntarily donate their leave to be used as shared leave for any eligible employee who is a licensed foster parent pursuant to RCW 74.15.040 and is caring for a foster child or is preparing to care for a foster child in their home.
- “Caring for” means taking foster child to health care appointments, court appointments, visitation with family members and/or any other reasons that sick leave may be used for in WAC 357-31-130.
- “Preparing to care for” means arranging the foster child(rens)’s living space, enrolling in school, and/or enrolling in childcare.
Administration:
The FPSLP is administered by the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) in consultation with the Office of Financial Management (OFM).
Leave donated to the FPSLP is “pooled” and withdrawn by eligible employees according to the priorities established by DCYF.
DCYF Payroll will reconcile the funds on a quarterly basis to ensure that the funds allotted to the employee were used. Any unused funds must be returned to the pool.
If funds in the pool fall below $50,000, DCYF will partner with OFM to send out a request for donations.
Participation:
Participation in the FPSLP must, at all times, be voluntary on the part of the donating and receiving employee.
Eligibility Requirements:
An employee is eligible to receive shared leave from the FPSLP if the employee is currently licensed as a foster parent and is caring for or preparing to care for a foster child.
The employee must submit a License Certification form to Human Resource Services. This
certification is valid for twelve (12) months or until the license expires, whichever occurs first. Hum Resource Services must maintain this documentation.
To receive shared leave from the pool to care for a foster child, an employee must exhaust all compensatory time (if applicable) and their personal holiday. The employee is not required to deplete all of their vacation leave and sick leave and can maintain up to forty (40) hours of vacation leave and forty (40) hours of sick leave in reserve. An eligible employee may receive up to five (5) days of shared leave, per occurrence, from the FPSLP to care for a foster child.
To receive shared leave from the pool to prepare for a foster child, an employee must exhaust all compensatory time (if applicable) and their personal holiday. The employee is not required to deplete all of their vacation leave and sick leave and can maintain up to forty (40) hours of vacation leave and forty (40) hours of sick leave in reserve. An eligible employee may receive up to five (5) days of shared leave, per occurrence, from the FPSLP to prepare to accept a foster child in their home.
Donation of Leave to the Pool:
With approval from the college president or their designee, an employee who is eligible to donate leave under WAC 357-31-890 may donate vacation leave, sick leave and all or part of a personal holiday to the FPSLP. The requirements to donate are as follows:
- Vacation Leave: A full-time employee’s request to donate leave may not cause their vacation leave balance to fall below eighty (80) hours after the transfer. For part-time employees, requirements for vacation leave balances are pro-rated.
- Sick Leave: An employee’s request to donate leave may not cause their sick leave balance to fall below one hundred seventy-six (176) hours after the transfer.
- Personal Holiday: An employee may donate all or part of their personal holiday.
Leave donated to the FPSLP is in a “pool” and cannot be donated to a specific individual.
Use of Pool Leave:
To prepare to accept a foster child, eligible employees may receive up to five (5) days of shared leave per occurrence. The employee’s supervisor and Human Resource Services must monitor this usage.
Employees may utilize the pool up to a total maximum of five hundred twenty-two (522) days based on an 8-hour day. DCYF will monitor the overall usage. NOTE: Shared leave received under the FPSLP is not included in the five hundred twenty-two (522) days of shared leave specified in RCW 41.04.665.
Human Resource Services must approve and submit the Request for Shared Leave to DCYF Payroll. Prior to approving the request, the Human Resource Services will contact DCYF Payroll via email to ensure that there are adequate funds in the pool to cover the request. If funds are not available in the pool, the request will be denied.
Requests will be processed within DCYF Payroll as “first-in, first-out” based on the date and time of receipt of the approved request.
Shared leave paid under the FPSLP, in combination with an employee's salary, will not exceed the level of the employee's state monthly salary.
Misuse of the Pool:
The Evergreen State College and/or DCYF shall investigate any alleged abuse of the FPSLP and on a finding of wrongdoing, the employee may be required to repay all of the shared leave received from the FPSLP. The only time an employee will have to repay leave credits is when there is a finding of wrongdoing.
Contact Information:
For more information about the program, please contact:
Human Resource Services
Library 3102
360.867.5361 (phone)
360.867.6823 (fax)
Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families
360-407-1604 (phone)
dcyf.fpslp@dcyf.wa.gov
Definitions:
Caring for: Taking a foster child to health care appointments, court appointments, visitation with family members and/or any other reasons that sick leave may be used for in WAC 357-31-130.
Donated leave: The dollar value of the leave hours a donor donates through the shared leave program.
Donor: An employee who donates leave to another employee.
Employee: Any classified and exempt employee who is entitled to accrue sick leave or vacation leave and for whom accurate leave records are maintained.
Monthly salary: The monthly salary and special pay and shift differential, or the monthly equivalent for hourly employees. Monthly salary does not include overtime pay, callback pay, standby pay, or performance bonuses.
Preparing to care for: Arranging a foster child’s living space, enrolling in school, and/or enrolling in childcare.
Recipient: An employee who receives shared leave from another employee.
Also see:
Classified Employees Collective Bargaining Agreement
Law Enforcement Employees Collective Bargaining Agreement
RCW 41.04.665
RCW 41.04.674
RCW 74.15.040
Student Support Services Staff Unit Collective Bargaining Agreement
WAC 357-31-130
WAC 357-31-835 through 357-31-920