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Eligibility for Membership – An employee is eligible to apply for membership in the Unclassified Donated Leave Bank after completing a minimum of six months (1,039 hours) of employment by the University. 1. Application for Membership:
a. Applications for membership will be accepted under the following conditions: (1) during the annual open enrollment period from October 1 to October 31, (2) within 14 days following an employee's completion of their initial six months (1,039 hours), or (3) during special enrollment periods as determined by Human Resources.
b. A full 8-hour sick leave donation is required regardless of the date the employee enters the program. An employee may choose to donate more than the required 8 hour sick leave donation when entering the program. One hour of leave bank time equals one hour of benefit time, regardless of the rates of pay of donors and recipients. The employee must retain a balance of 40 hours of sick leave at the time of donation for donations above the required minimum of 8 accrued hours. Employees who have a negative balance of sick leave (due to use of the 480 hours borrow) may not enter this program until their sick leave bank has a positive balance.
c. Each participating employee must donate a minimum of 8 hours of accrued sick leave annually from their accrued leave account. The employee must retain a balance of 40 hours of sick leave at the time of donation for donations above the required minimum of 8 accrued hours. One hour of leave bank time equals one hour of benefit time, regardless of the rates of pay of donors and recipients.
d. Employees must submit an Application for Enrollment form to the Human Resources Office requesting membership and authorizing the deduction of sick leave.
e. To keep their membership current, each member must donate the minimum amount of leave time annually. Continued membership is automatic and subsequent annual deductions of accrued leave time will occur during or immediately following the annual enrollment period. To discontinue membership, the employee must forward a written notice to Human Resources during the annual enrollment period, requesting withdrawal from the program. This written notice may occur in the form of an email or letter that states the name, V#, and effective date of withdrawal from the program. Individuals withdrawing from the program will not be entitled to receive any refund of previously donated time nor will they be eligible for any benefit from this program until and unless they are accepted for membership in a subsequent annual enrollment period.
f. Only enrolled members may receive benefits.
g. A minimum participation of twenty percent (20%) of the unclassified employee population) is required to establish and maintain the Donated Leave Bank program. Should enrollment fall below twenty percent of the unclassified employee population , the Unclassified Leave Bank may be terminated.
h. Benefits may not be used to extend the length of an employee’s contract or FTE. 2. Request for Benefits:
a. An employee shall become eligible the day after his/her application for membership is received. An employee requesting benefits must exhaust all paid leave time (including sick leave and vacation leave) before using any leave time from the Unclassified Donated Leave Bank.
b. Requests for benefits are to be submitted by the employee on a Request for Benefit form to the Human Resources Office. If the employee is physically unable to do so, the forms may be submitted on the employee’s behalf. The following information must be submitted when requesting benefits 1) Name and Job Title
2) The number of hours requested from the Leave Bank. Number of hours may not exceed 480 hours in a rolling 12-month period.
3) A physician’s certificate stating the nature of the illness or injury and the estimated date of return to duty, or, if the leave request is to care for a family member, a physician’s certification regarding the family member’s serious health condition. The certification form is available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla/forms
4) Other qualifying reasons listed in Definitions may require specific documentation. c. The employee must have used all of their accrued leave to be eligible to request a donation from the bank.
d. Unless the request is an emergency, it must be submitted a minimum of two weeks prior to the date the employee requests the benefit to begin. 3. Benefits: a. Benefits will only be awarded for requests determined by the Executive Director of Human Resources to be in compliance with this policy and for Serious Health Conditions as defined under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA). Employee must be approved under FMLA and/or OFLA to be eligible to receive benefits. Benefits will not be awarded for short-term illnesses e.g., colds, flu, viruses or worker’s compensation.
b. Following approval of the request, benefits will begin when all paid leave accruals and short-term disability (if applicable) have been exhausted. This includes sick leave, vacation (if applicable), holiday time, and administrative leave (if applicable).
c. An employee requesting benefits for their own illness or injury shall be entitled to a maximum of 480 hours or the number of hours necessary to satisfy his/her waiting period for Long Term Disability benefits (if applicable), whichever is less.
d. In the case of an employee requesting benefits for the care of immediate family member, benefits shall not exceed 480 hours of the time necessary to give the employee twelve (12) weeks leave, whichever is less.
e. Employees who use this benefit while also receiving payment under a Paid Family and Medical Leave program in no case will be granted hours from this Leave Bank that will cause the employee to be paid more than their base monthly salary when combined with payment received from the Paid Family and Medical Leave program.
f. In no case will hours be granted from this Leave Bank which will provide paid leave time beyond twelve weeks within a “rolling” 12-month period.
g. Benefits may be awarded for a maximum of 480 hours within a “rolling” 12- month period.
h. The recipient employee is responsible for all tax liabilities that occur as a result of receiving this benefit.
i. Upon approval of a request for benefits, Human Resources will credit the recipient employee’s sick leave accrual account the numbers of hours approved.
j. Should an employee recover and return to duty prior to exhausting all Donated Leave Bank hours credited, the unused hours shall be returned to the Donated Leave Bank.
k. Employees utilizing benefits from this Donated Leave Bank shall cease accrual of sick leave benefits. Upon return to full duty, the employee will be credited with the amount of applicable sick leave, which they should have earned during the period they were receiving benefit from the Bank.
l. At the end of each month in which an employee utilizes benefit from this Donated Leave Bank that employee shall report to Human Resources the total number of benefit hours used within that month. The form for reporting this information shall be designated by the Human Resources Office. 4. Human Resources Responsibility: a. Human Resources will maintain all records relating to the Leave Bank. These records may include, but are not limited to: membership roster, leave balances, usage reports, etc.
b. Human Resources will maintain the Leave Bank balance in total hours. The balance will be equal to the number of hours donated, minus the total hours used.
c. If the bank drops below 1040 hours Human Resources will solicit unclassified employees for additional donations Leave hours contributed to the Leave Bank will not be refunded to the employees unless the Leave Bank is discontinued. At that time the hours will be returned to current members only, in prorated shares. If an employee separates from employment with WOU for any reason, the employee automatically loses all time they have placed in the Leave Bank, even if the plan is discontinued. Donated hours will not be returned in cases where a member applies for Leave Bank benefits and is denied.
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