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Compassionate Leave Donation Program

A. Employee Benefits

New – KSC Compassionate Leave Donation Policy - effective 10/1/06

Compassionate Leave Donation Program

1.1 Definition. In accordance with USNH Policy USY V.A.17, Keene State College establishes a compassionate leave donation program which provides a means for status employees who earns vacation leave or Earned Time to voluntarily and anonymously donate annual leave or Earned Time to another employee whose absence from work qualifies under the Family Medical Leave Act and who has exhausted, or will exhaust, her/his applicable paid leave time. Compassionate leave does not apply to intermittent FMLA situations. The leave is donated directly to an employee, not a leave bank. While the maximum total leave period is six months, the maximum donated time is 20 days (150 hours for staff working 37.5 hours period/160 hours for those working 40 hours per week). This program will be coordinated by the campus Human Resources. Confidentiality of medical information for those receiving compassionate leave will be maintained.

1.2 Other Conditions. The role of the institution is to facilitate the administration of the compassionate leave program, not to encourage or discourage participation in the program, nor disseminate information about those employees in need of donations of time. No employee may coerce, threaten, intimidate, or promise financial benefits for donations of leave time.

1.3 Eligibility. The leave will apply to any status employee who earns vacation leave or Earned Time and whose situation is such that her/his FMLA absence from work is anticipated to be a minimum of 30 calendar days, including a minimum of five days of the 30 which would be unpaid leave, and the employee is planning to return to work for at least 30 calendar days following the FMLA leave. The number of compassionate leave hours/days an employee may receive per 12-month period will be limited to 20 work days per 12-month period. If otherwise eligible, employees are not eligible for compassionate leave if: 1. they are receiving USNH long term disability or Workers’ Compensation benefits, 2. they are on a probationary status due to attendance issues, or 3. the leave is due to pregnancy without medical complications or adoption.

1.3.1 Donations of Time. Operating Staff may donate Earned Time in full-hour increments from their Earned Time accrual with a recommended minimum of two hours and exempt staff may donate vacation/personal time in minimal increments of 0.5 days from their vacation/personal leave accrual. No Sick Pool or sick leave may be donated. After donating leave, a donating employee must have a minimum balance of one week (e.g. 37.5 or 40 hours/5 days) of Earned Time/vacation time. Time may be donated to a status employee in any department and status employee type covered by this policy. Donated time does not count towards minimum usage requirements. Donations may be made to more than one employee. Each campus will determine a maximum donation, not to exceed 12 days (90/ 96 hours) of Earned Time/vacation time in total per fiscal year, with the maximum pro-rated for percent-time employees.

1.3.2 Keene State College will allow retroactive donations, provided the donations are made no more than 30 days after the employee’s return to work. No compassionate leave donations may be made outside the employee’s home institution.

1.3.3 Use of Compassionate Leave. An employee receiving compassionate leave will not accrue Earned Time/vacation/personal/sick time on compassionate leave time days. The recipient’s home department will pay the cost of the employee’s salary that is covered by compassionate leave. Compassionate leave use cannot extend beyond the end of the employee’s appointment period or to increase the appointment hours beyond the scheduled defined for that specific timeframe.

1.3.4 Reporting. The institution shall establish a process to ensure that the donor and recipient time/leave are correctly recorded on appropriate time cards/leave records.

1.3.5 Termination of Leave. An employee’s use of donated compassionate leave ends when one or more of the following occur: the employee returns to work; the maximum amount of donated compassionate leave has been used; medical documentation for the employee, spouse, child, or parent releases the employee to return to work; the employee terminates employment; or there are no more donations of leave time to the employee.

1.3.6 Collective Bargaining Agreements. All provisions of this policy shall prevail except as modified by an applicable collective bargaining agreements.

About this Policy

Compassionate Leave Policy
Ownership: Human Resources, hr@keene.edu
Last Modified: Oct 31, 2017 – webmaster, on behalf of hr@keene.edu
Categories: HR
For questions regarding this policy, please contact the policy owner.
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