Vacation Donation Program for Civil Service and Union-Represented Staff

The University permits eligible employees to donate earned vacation to Civil Service or Labor Represented staff employeesto be used in cases of a serious medical condition Or injury to an employee or immediate family member.

Eligibility

Recipient Eligibility

A Civil Service or Labor Represented staff employee that holds a University benefits eligible position that allows them to earn and use vacation, is eligible to request use of this program.

Donor Eligibility

Any employee who holds a University (P&A, Faculty, Civil Service, or Labor-Represented) benefits eligible position that allows them to earn and use vacation, may donate earned vacation time to this program.

Provisions

Donating Vacation Hours

Eligible donors are permitted to donate up to 40 hours per calendar year to employees approved to be a recipient of donated vacation (Civil Service or Labor-Represented staff employees) under this policy. Vacation must be donated in 8-hour increments.

Employees who donate vacation may not claim an expense, tax deduction, or a charitable contribution for any leave donated under this policy. Donated hours are given to the recipient on a first in first out basis and their vacation balances will reflect the donation when it’s surrendered. Surrendered hours cannot be returned to the employee.

Requesting Vacation Hour Donations

Civil Service and Labor-Represented employees may request to use up to 65 days of donated time per rolling calendar year for leave due to the circumstances specified in this policy. The rolling calendar year will begin on the date an employee first receives donated leave under the program in a particular calendar year. Employees who receive a donation will have a normal tax withholding occur when the employee receives pay while using donated vacation time.

The amount of donated time is determined by multiplying the donor’s hourly rate of pay by the number of hours of vacation the donor wishes to donate, which results in the calculation of a dollar value of the time that is to be donated. This dollar value is then divided by the recipient’s hourly wage to calculate the number of hours of donated vacation that are added to the recipient’s vacation balance.

Employees may request to use the vacation donation program for leaves due to one or more of the following circumstances and the leave will exceed 3 consecutive working days:

• When the employee or an immediate family member is experiencing a serious medical condition or injury and receives a physician’s statement that extended time off is required;
• When the employee requires inpatient, hospice or residential health care; or
• When an employee is requesting extended time off due to a death of an immediate family member.

To be approved to use donated vacation days, employees must have exhausted all forms of paid leave (e.g., vacation, sick, compensatory time, personal holiday), and have been employed in a benefits eligible position for at least 6-months. In addition, to be approved to use donated vacation time, employees cannot: (1) be on a disciplinary suspension, (2) be receiving or have applied to receive worker’s compensation benefits, (3) be receiving any paid long term disability benefits for the illness or injury, or (4) have previously been subject to disciplinary action related to paid leave.

The Senior Director of Total Compensation will conduct a secondary review of any request that is denied to ensure consistent application of the program criteria. The final decision by the Senior Director of Total Compensation is not subject to grievance or appeal.