Sick Leave Pool (Procedure 2.2100)

 

Purpose:

To define and outline the procedure for the sick leave pool. The sick Leave Pool is intended to aid participating members and who have exhausted their earned sick leave balance and may otherwise lose income due to a major illness, accident, or injury.

Procedure:

1. Membership:
   
   
   1. Participation in the sick leave pool is on a voluntary basis.
   2. Enrollment in the sick leave pool shall be available to all full-time employees who have been employed with the College for at least one year and have an accrued sick leave balance of at least 60 hours. Within 30 days of his/her one-year employment anniversary date, an employee who has met the eligibility criteria must notify the Human Resources Office of his/her desire to enroll in the sick leave pool. After the initial opportunity to join the pool (based on employment anniversary date), and employee who meets eligibility criteria may enroll in the sick leave pool during the annual open enrollment period which is usually held during the month of October.
   3. Enrollment is completed when an Application for Membership in the sick leave pool is completed and filed with the Human Resources Office. Sick leave contributed to the sick leave pool is removed from the employee's personally accumulated sick leave balance.
2. Contributions to the Sick Leave Pool:
   
   
   1. The maximum amount of sick leave which may be contributed by any employee is the initial amount contribution and any automatic contributions that are required by the procedure. Employees who enrolled in the sick leave pool prior to January 1, 2004, made an initial contribution of 12 hours of personal earned sick leave. Employees who enroll in the sick leave pool January 1, 2004 and thereafter shall make an initial contribution of 15 hours of personal earned sick leave. No further contributions shall be required, except in the case that the number of hours in the sick leave pool drops below 450 hours, in which case each participant shall be required to automatically contribute
       7.5 hours. The maximum number of automatic contributions shall not exceed 7.5 hours in a 12-month period. A member who does not have 7.5 hours of accrued sick leave available at that time will have it deducted from that member's next earned sick leave hours. A member who is currently withdrawing leave from the sick leave pool shall have his/her contribution waived. 
   2. If a participant elects to terminate his/her membership in the sick leave pool, he/she must inform the Human Resources Office in writing. All pooled hours contributed by that person shall remain in the sick leave pool. In addition, the participant may not re-apply for enrollment in the sick leave pool for one year from the date of withdrawal. If a participant withdraws and then seeks re-enrollment in the sick leave pool, an initial contribution of 15 hours will be required.
   3. If a participant retires, resigns or is terminated from employment, participation in the sick leave pool is terminated. Hours contributed to the sick leave pool remain in the pool. Rehired employees must meet eligibility requirements in order to be reenrolled.
3. Withdrawal of Leave from the Sick Leave Pool: To be eligible to withdraw and use leave from the sick leave pool:
   
   
   1. The applicant must be a member of the sick leave pool.
   2. The applicant must have exhausted all of his/her personal sick leave.
   3. The applicant must have exhausted all but 15 hours of his/her vacation.
   4. The applicant must have exhausted all of his/her accumulated compensatory time (if applicable.)
   5. Members who seek to draw days from the sick leave pool will be required to submit a physician's statement on a form provided by the Human Resources Office. The Director of Human Resources may request additional documentation if necessary.
   6.  The sick leave pool may be used only for the employees' own illness, accident or injury. It may not be used for the illness, accident or injury of a family member or dependent. It may not be used for routine pregnancy unless pregnancy complications are certified by a physician. In addition, it may not be used for any disability covered by Workers' Compensation, disability insurance or other sponsored income protection plans. 
   7. The first day that sick leave is drawn from the pool will establish the beginning of a 12-month draw period; a new draw period will not begin until the previous 12-month draw period has expired.
   8. A member may receive draw up to 30 days of sick leave from the sick leave pool during the draw period (as defined in item 3G above.) If additional days are required due to the severity of the illness, accident or injury, the Director of Human Resources shall notify the Advisory Board that an additional 30 days has been requested. In any event, a member may not draw more than 60 days of sick leave l in any one -year draw period.
   9. Sick leave pool benefits may not be transferred from a member to another member/employee.
4. Sick Leave Pool Advisory Board
   
   
   1. The Sick Leave Pool Advisory Board will consist of the following members, who shall be members of the sick leave pool, appointed by the President or designee:
      
      
      1. Three Faculty members;
      2. Three Career Service employees;
      3. Three Administrative employees: and
      4. Director of Human Resources or designee, ex-officio.
   2. To be eligible to serve on the Sick Leave Pool Advisory Board, each appointee must sign a statement agreeing to maintain the confidentiality of any personnel information obtained as a result of appointment to the Advisory Board.
   3. Alleged abuse of the sick leave pool shall be investigated by the Human Resources Office. Upon a finding of wrongdoing, the participant shall repay all of the sick leave hours drawn from the pool, will be subject to removal from the pool by the Advisory Board, and shall be subject to such disciplinary action in accordance with College Policy.
   4. The Sick Leave Pool Advisory Board shall make recommendations through the Human Resources Office to Executive Staff regarding the administration of the sick leave pool. Executive Staff shall review recommendations and make determinations which shall be sent to the President for approval.