R-06, UH Systemwide Administrative Procedures A9.470, Leave Sharing
February 1996
This replaces Administrative Procedure No. A9.470 dated March 1995.
A9.470 LEAVE SHARING
1. Purpose
To administer the Leave Sharing Program for University employees under the authority of Title 14, Subtitle 1, Chapter 8.1, Hawaii Administrative Rules.
The Leave Sharing Program is intended to allow employees to help ease the burdens of fellow employees who would otherwise need to take time off from work without pay to recover from a serious injury or illness. Such a program shall ensure:
a. fair treatment and freedom from coercion of employees,
b. that there will be no undue hardship on the department’s operations, and
c. that an employee shall not directly or indirectly intimidate, threaten or coerce any other employee for the purpose of interfering with any right such employee may have with respect to donating, receiving or using shared leave under this program.
This Leave Sharing Program shall remain in effect until June 30, 1996.
2. Definitions
a. Direct Share Option: A Leave Sharing Program option whereby an eligible employee specifies the eligible co-worker to whom they wish to donate shared leave.
b. Donation: Vacation or sick leave credits donated by eligible employees. Donations must be made in increments of no less than one (1) hour.
c. Leave Bank Option: A Leave Sharing Program option under which eligible employees donate shared leave credits to the University’s Central Leave Bank without designating a specific eligible co-worker.
d. Serious personal injury or illness: An acute, traumatic, or life threatening illness, injury or impairment, such as cancer, heart attack or disabling accident:
1) which may be a physical or mental condition;
2) which is certified by a physician, as defined under Chapter 386-1, H.R.S., Hawaii Workers’ Compensation Law, as being totally incapacitating and the cause of the employee’s inability to work for at least thirty (30) consecutive calendar days, and
3) which is not covered under Chapter 386, Hawaii Workers’ Compensation Law.
3. Objective
a. To allow eligible employees the opportunity to apply for or donate to the Leave Sharing Program.
b. To prescribe the procedures to be followed in applying for or donating to the Leave Sharing Program.
4. Applicability
a. These procedures shall apply to all University employees who are entitled to earn sick and/or vacation leave.
b. Employees who are federally funded may donate vacation leave credits, but may not receive shared leave credits under this program due to federal work certification requirements.
c. Employees of the University of Hawaii shall not donate or receive leave credits with employees of other state departments.
5. References
ACT 157, S.L.H. 1993, Relating to public officers and employees.
Section 14-8.1-1 through Section 14.8.1-11, Title 14, Chapter 8.1, Hawaii Administrative Rules.
Article III (H), Leave Sharing, Unit 07 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
6. Responsibilities
a. The Director of Human and Material Resources or designee shall appoint a Leave Sharing Review Committee to administer the Central Leave Bank. The committee shall be comprised of at least three members, one of which shall be a representative from the Personnel Management Office, who shall chair the committee.
b. The Leave Sharing Review Committee shall be responsible for overall management of the Leave Sharing Program, and shall:
1) Define the general framework for promoting, understanding, and knowledge of the Leave Sharing Program.
2) Respond to questions related to leave sharing as they affect employees and this program.
3) Review all matters relating to appeals under Section 8(e) of this procedure.
4) Assist the departments/units in conducting periodic publicity campaigns informing employees of the Leave Sharing Program.
5) Monitor all donations into the Central Leave Bank and determine the distribution of leave credits from the Central Leave Bank.
6) Consult with the Department of Human Resource Development concerning unusual situations and/or circumstances.
c. The Employee Benefits and Training Section within the Personnel Management Office shall coordinate, as necessary, the activities of the Leave Sharing Review Committee.
d. Personnel/Administrative Officers within their respective units shall implement this procedure. The Personnel/Administrative Officer shall:
1) Inform their employees that they may donate vacation leave credits or request leave credits under this program. For employees who do not earn vacation leave, but earn sick leave credits, inform such employees that they may donate sick leave credits or request leave credits under this program.
2) Assure that a leave bank option and a direct share option shall both be available to employees to encourage maximum participation in the program.
3) Ensure that an employee is not directly or indirectly intimidated, threatened or coerced with respect to donating or receiving shared leave under this program.
4) Review for eligibility and correctness all donations and requests for shared leave.
5) Ensure that all official leave and attendance records are properly maintained with respect to donated leave and shared leave received by recipients.
6) Monitor leave sharing recipient’s medical condition on a monthly basis to ensure that their condition continues to be due to a serious injury or illness.
7) Forward appeal requests to the Leave Sharing Review Committee for review and action.
7. Guidelines
a. Conditions for Donating Shared Leave
1) An employee must meet all of the following conditions to be eligible to donate shared leave credits:
a) Employees who earn and use sick and vacation leave shall only donate vacation leave credits, provided that the employee’s vacation leave balance is not less than ten (10) days of vacation after the donation is made. Employees who do not earn vacation leave shall donate their sick leave credits, provided that the employee’s sick leave balance is not less than thirty (30) days after the donation is made.
b) An employee must not have asked for nor accepted anything of value in exchange for the donation of leave credits.
2) All donated vacation or sick leave credits are irrevocable.
a) A vacation leave or sick leave donation shall not be refunded to the donor once it is transferred to the leave recipient or to the Central Leave Bank.
b) Any donated leave credits that are transferred to but not used by the eligible leave recipient shall revert to the Central Leave Bank to be available for use by other eligible recipients.
3) Leave shall be donated in increments of no less than one (1) hour.
b. Conditions for Receiving Shared Leave
1) An employee must meet all of the following conditions to be eligible to receive shared leave credits:
a) Has been employed at the University in a Board of Regents or Civil Service position for at least six (6) continuous months at a minimum of 0.5 (one-half) FTE.
b) Has exhausted or is about to exhaust all vacation leave, sick leave and compensatory time credits.
c) Is suffering from an acute, traumatic or life threatening personal injury or illness which caused the employee to be absent from work for at least thirty (30) consecutive calendar days within the past twelve (12) months.
d) Has a personal injury or illness not covered under Chapter 386, H.R.S., Hawai‘i Workers’ Compensation Law, or if covered, has exhausted all benefits.
e) Is determined to be ineligible for temporary disability benefits or, if eligible, has exhausted all benefits.
f) Has no disciplinary record of sick leave abuse within the past two (2) years.
2) An eligible employee can receive no more than a combined cumulative total of 240 days of shared leave credits for the duration that the employee is employed with the University. Nine-month employees can receive no more than 180 days of shared leave credits.
3) An employee need not have donated leave to be eligible to receive shared leave.
4) If an employee is incapable of applying for shared leave credits, an authorized representative may apply on the recipient’s behalf.
5) While using shared leave credits, an eligible recipient shall continue to earn sick and/or vacation leave credits, consistent with applicable leave provisions. Such earned sick and/or vacation leave credits shall be used prior to receiving shared leave credits in accordance with current leave accounting practices.
6) In the event that a leave recipient is found to be entitled to benefits under Chapter 386, H.R.S., after shared leave has been granted, all approved shared leave credits transferred to the leave recipient shall be rescinded. The employee shall reimburse any salary amount previously paid under this Leave Sharing Program.
8. Procedures
a. Donating Shared Leave Credits
1) An employee may donate leave directly to another employee via the direct share option. The steps in the donation process are as follows:
a) The employee shall complete and submit a UH Form 68 (PERS), Leave Sharing Donation Form (Attachment 1).
b) The supervisor shall review the UH Form 68 (PERS), Leave Sharing Donation Form (Attachment 1) for correctness and forward to their respective Personnel/Administrative Officer within their unit.
c) The Personnel/Administrative Officer shall review the donation request in accordance with the eligibility guidelines set forth in Section 7(a) of this procedure.
d) If approved, the Personnel/Administrative Officer shall follow the appropriate instructions on Attachment 4 in processing the donation request. A copy of the UH Form 68 (PERS), Leave Sharing Donation Form (Attachment 1) shall be provided to the employee, the employee’s supervisor and the Leave Sharing Review Committee once the donation request has been processed.
e) If the donation is to an employee of another department/college, the Personnel/Administrative Officer shall contact the employee’s Personnel/Administrative Officer to verify whether or not the employee has been deemed eligible to receive shared leave credits under the Leave Sharing Program. If approved, the donating employee’s Personnel/Administrative Officer shall process the donation request as indicated in the instructions in Attachment 4. A copy of the UH Form 68 (PERS), Leave Sharing Donation Form (Attachment 1) shall be forwarded to the donor employee, donor employee’s supervisor, recipient’s Personnel/Administrative Officer and the Leave Sharing Review Committee.
f) If the leave donation request is disapproved, the Personnel/Administrative Officer shall return the original UH Form 68 (PERS), Leave Sharing Donation Form (Attachment 1) to the employee’s immediate supervisor along with a reason for the denial. The immediate supervisor shall return the leave donation request to the employee.
2) An employee may donate leave to the Central Leave Bank. The steps in the donation process are as follows:
a) The employee shall complete and submit a UH Form 68 (PERS), Leave Sharing Donation Form (Attachment 1), to their immediate supervisor.
b) The supervisor shall review the form for correctness and forward to their Personnel/Administrative Officer within their respective unit.
c) The Personnel/Administrative Officer shall review the donation request in accordance with the eligibility guidelines set forth in Section 7 a. of this procedure.
d) If approved, the Personnel/Administrative Officer shall process the donation request in accordance with the instructions on Attachment 5. A copy of the approved UH Form 68 (PERS), Leave Sharing Donation Form (Attachment 1) shall be submitted to the Leave Sharing Review Committee and the donor once the leave donation is processed.
e) If the leave donation request is disapproved, the Personnel/Administrative Officer shall return the original UH Form 68 (PERS), Leave Sharing Donation Form (Attachment 1) to the respective donor’s immediate supervisor along with a reason for the denial. The immediate supervisor shall return the leave donation request to the employee.
b. Receiving Shared Leave Credits
1) An employee requesting shared leave may receive shared leave directly via the Direct Share Option and/or the Central Leave Bank Option. The steps which involve receiving shared leave are as follows:
a) The employee shall complete and submit a UH Form 69 (PERS), Leave Sharing Request Form (Attachment 2), along with a UH Form 49 (PERS), Certificate of Physician or Practitioner (Attachment 3) to their immediate supervisor.
b) The immediate supervisor shall review the forms for correctness and forward the request to their respective Personnel/Administrative Officer within their unit.
c) The Personnel/Administrative Officer shall review the forms in accordance with eligibility guidelines set forth under Section 7 b. of this procedure.
d) If the employee is eligible to receive shared leave, the Personnel/Administrative Officer shall follow the appropriate instructions on Attachment 6 in processing the shared leave request. A copy of the UH Form 69 (PERS), Leave Sharing Request Form (Attachment 2), along with the UH Form 49 (PERS), Certificate of Physician or Practitioner (Attachment 3), shall be sent to the employee, the employee’s immediate supervisor and the Leave Sharing Review Committee within ten (10) working days after the receipt of request.
e) The Personnel/Administrative Officer shall monitor the number of shared leave credits used by the employee along with the number of shared leave credits available. The employee receiving shared leave credits shall continue to receive his or her current salary.
f) If the employee was on leave without pay status at the time the shared leave request was filed and has since been found eligible to receive shared leave credits, the Personnel/Administrative Officer shall generate a Payroll Notification Form to return the employee on paid leave status. For civil service employees, the Personnel/Administrative Officer shall notify the Personnel Management Office, Civil Service Section, in writing, to generate the State Form 5, Notification of Personnel Action, to return the employee on paid leave status. The period that the employee remains on paid status shall be dependent on the number of shared leave credits that were donated to the employee.
g) The number of shared leave credits received by the employee shall be dependent on the availability of leave donated and shall not be approved and processed for more than a month at a time. The recipient’s sick or vacation leave balance shall not be affected as a result of receiving shared leave.
h) The Personnel/Administrative Officer shall retain the original of all approved UH Form 69 (PERS), Leave Sharing Request Form (Attachment 2), along with the UH Form 49 (PERS), Certificate of Physician or Practitioner (Attachment 3), submitted under the Direct Share Option. Copies of the forms shall be submitted to the Leave Sharing Review Committee for monitoring purposes.
i) If the employee is not eligible to receive shared leave, the Personnel/Administrative Officer shall return the original UH Form 69 (PERS), Leave Sharing Request Form (Attachment 2), along with the UH Form 49 (PERS), Certificate of Physician or Practitioner (Attachment 3), to the employee along with a reason for the denial.
c. The Leave Sharing Review Committee shall have overall responsibility of the Central Leave Bank, which shall include, but not limited to:
1) Recording all donations into the Central Leave Bank.
2) Processing leave credits from the Central Leave Bank in accordance with the procedures set forth in Attachment 7. If there are more than one (1) recipient approved to receive shared leave, the available leave credits shall be equally distributed to the leave recipients.
3) Maintaining records of all copies of UH Form 68 (PERS), Leave Sharing Donation Form (Attachment 1), UH Form 69 (PERS), Leave Sharing Request Form (Attachment 2), and UH Form 49 (PERS), Certificate of Physician or Practitioner (Attachment 3).
4) Reviewing all appeals under Section 10 of this procedure.
5) Monitoring all leave sharing activities within the University.
d. Termination of Shared Leave
1) Approved shared leave shall be discontinued under the following situations:
a) The leave recipient separates or is separated from service.
b) The leave recipient no longer suffers from the illness or injury for which the shared leave was approved.
c) The leave recipient is found to be entitled to benefits under Chapter 386, H.R.S., or temporary disability benefits,
d) The leave recipient did not meet all of the conditions for eligibility under Section 7 b. of this procedure.
2) The Personnel/Administrative Officer shall notify the recipient in writing whenever the approved shared leave shall be or has been terminated or rescinded.
3) Adjustments shall be made to the recipient’s compensation and leave records, as appropriate, for any period during which the shared leave has been terminated or rescinded.
4) All unused shared leave credits by the recipient shall be returned to the Central Leave Bank.
e. Appeal Procedures
1) Any employee or the duly authorized representative of such employee whose application for shared leave is denied, in whole or in part, may appeal for a review of the decision by submitting a UH Form 76 (PERS), Appeal and/or Complaint Form (Attachment 8) within ten (10) days after receiving written notice of the denial or a notice of termination of shared leave benefits. The written request shall be addressed to the Leave Sharing Review Committee, Personnel Management Office, Employee Benefits and Training Section, and shall include the following information:
a) A request to review the application for shared leave and the specific reasons for the reconsideration of the application,
b) The facts in support of the reconsideration; and
c) The remedy which the employee is seeking.
2) The Leave Sharing Review Committee shall convene within fifteen (15) days after receipt of the employee’s request for review. A meeting with the employee or duly authorized representative at which time any materials, additional facts, documents or other evidence may be presented by the employee or their duly authorized representative.
3) After considering the additional information, the Leave Sharing Review Committee shall render a decision. The Leave Sharing Review Committee shall be final and conclusive. Written notice of the decision to the employee shall be given within ten (10) working days from the date of the appeal meeting or at a mutually agreed later date based upon receipt of additional documentation, whichever is later.
f. Termination of Leave Sharing Program
1) The Leave Sharing Program shall terminate on June 30, 1996 unless extended by the State Director of Personnel Services or repealed by law.
2) If the Leave Sharing Program terminates before the end of the recipient’s serious personal illness or injury, any shared leave granted to the recipient before the program’s end shall remain available for use by the recipient until the termination of the serious personal illness or injury.
3) Upon termination of the Leave Sharing Program, any shared leave remaining in the Central Leave Bank shall be considered forfeited and the leave bank dissolved.
