Classified and unclassified civil service employees with more than six (6) months of employment may transfer unused accrued sick leave hours to another eligible employee experiencing a disabling illness or injury or a death in the immediate family.
The following definitions will apply to this section.
- Employee means a classified civil service or unclassified civil service employee with more than six (6) months employment.
- Recipient means an employee who is eligible to receive sick leave benefits under this program.
- Donor means an employee who meets the requirements to transfer leave under this program.
- Disabling illness or injury means a medically certified illness or injury of an employee or an employee's family member, which will result in the employee being absent from duty for at least ten (10) consecutive working days, for which the employee does not have available paid leave and which may result in the employee incurring a substantial loss of income. "Disabling illness or injury" does not include self-inflicted injuries, job related illnesses or injuries covered by workers’ compensation, illnesses or injuries covered by automobile insurance benefits, and illnesses or injuries suffered because of secondary employment.
- Family member means a parent or stepparent, spouse, child (including step or adopted children), grandparent, spouse's parent, spouse's grandparent, qualified adult as defined in CAO Policy 46, any relative for whom an employee is legally responsible, or relatives who are residing with and are under the care of an employee during the relative's disabling illness or injury.
A donor wishing to transfer unused accrued sick leave to a qualified recipient shall file the sick leave sharing donation form with human resources requesting that a specified number of hours of accrued sick leave be transferred to another eligible named employee. Only employees with a sick leave balance of over 160 hours are eligible to be donors. In addition, an employee’s requested transfer of sick leave may not result in donor’s sick leave balance dropping below 160 hours.
A recipient shall complete the sick leave sharing application and submit the application to human resources; and, the recipient shall have exhausted all available paid leave, including sick leave, vacation, holiday, and compensatory time.
- The minimum number of sick leave hours that an employee may transfer to another employee is eight (8).
Once the proper documentation has been submitted by both the proposed recipient and donor employees, human resources will, within five (5) days of receipt, review the documentation and notify the donor and recipient in writing if they meet the eligibility requirements of this program. If so, the recipient will be entitled to use the transferred sick leave under this program.
- Sick Leave Transfer Program benefits to an employee on maternity/paternity leave will be available only if the employee's newborn child suffers from a serious medical condition that requires an extended leave of absence.
Transferred sick leave will be paid at the recipient's regular rate of pay and on the government's regular pay periods.
Transferred sick leave may only be used by a recipient while they, or a family member, are experiencing a disabling illness or injury. It is the responsibility of the recipient employees to notify human resources in writing within five (5) days from the date that their disabling injury or illness no longer exists. In the event of recipients’ death or retirement, or if their employment is terminated, the recipients are no longer eligible to receive sick leave transfer benefits.
While receiving sick leave transfer benefits, a recipient employee will accrue sick and vacation leave. A paid holiday occurring during an approved benefit period will be paid as a holiday, and not paid as transferred sick leave.
- An employee receiving sick leave transfer benefits shall comply with the provisions of the sick leave policy.
- Any sick leave transfer benefits received under this program will run concurrently with all other leaves of absence.
- Once sick leave has been transferred under this program, it cannot be restored to the donor for any reason.
No employee will directly or indirectly intimidate, threaten, or coerce; or, attempt to intimidate, threaten or coerce any other employee for the purpose of interfering with that employee’s right to participate in this program, including the donation, receipt, or use of transferred sick leave. For the purposes of this section, "intimidate, threaten, or coerce" includes but is not limited to the promise to confer or conferring any benefit related to employment or affecting or threatening to affect any reprisal against any other employee.
Reference:
Code of Ordinances, Sec. 21-37.2. – Sick leave transfer program.