Policy

St. Norbert provides up to 160 hours of paid leave per calendar year to assist an employee when an immediate family member or person in their household is ill or injured. The paid leave, which is donated by other employees, is available if all of these conditions are met:

• You have an immediate family member or person in your household with an illness or injury covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act; and FMLA policy
• Your ill or injured immediate family member or person in your household is regularly dependent upon you for their care; and
• Caring for the immediate family member or person in your household requires you to be absent from work; and
• You have exhausted all of your vacation and paid time off

Procedures

Leave Donation Procedures
The college maintains a bank of paid vacation leave, donated by employees, called the Compassionate Leave Bank. All donations are voluntary. No employee is required or expected to donate to the Compassionate Leave Bank, and employees who elect to donate leave aren’t given any preferential treatment. Similarly, employees who do not choose to donate vacation leave aren’t subject to adverse treatment by the college.

When Human Resources receives a bank donation, the hours are tracked under a fictitious person named Leave, Compassionate. Once the Compassionate Leave Bank contains 320 hours of donated leave, no more hours can be donated. When the bank’s donated leave time dips to 160 hours, Human Resources sends a memo to employees announcing that the bank is again accepting voluntary donations.

St. Norbert keeps a record of all donors’ names and the amount of leave donated.

If you wish to donate paid vacation leave, keep in mind the following:

• You may donate up to 16 hours of your accrued vacation leave every calendar year by completing the Compassionate Leave Request form.
• Donations of paid leave are irrevocable. Once you make a donation, you cannot get it back.
• You can’t donate your leave time to a specific employee(s).
• Donated leave won’t be paid out in cash equivalency.
• Donated leave won’t be paid to an employee upon separation from employment.
• All leave donors and recipients are responsible for determining any impact the donation may have on their taxes and benefits.

Requesting Compassionate Leave
If you’d like to request a Compassionate Leave donation, contact your supervisor. Also, keep in mind there are no guarantees that donated paid leave will be available at the time of your request, as all donations to the Compassionate Leave Bank are voluntary.

After contacting your supervisor, the process is as follows:

• You and your supervisor must complete the Request for Compassionate Leave form, then send it to Human Resources.
• Human Resources will work with you if there is a need for additional information, such as health care provider certificates or Family and Medical Leave Act forms.
• Human Resources will review your request, then approve or deny eligibility.

Processing Compassionate Leave
Once you’re approved for Compassionate Leave, then exhaust your own accrued paid leave, Human Resources will automatically transfer the amount of donated leave you need to complete the current pay period. You will be paid at your regular rate of pay, not the pay rate of the leave donor(s).