2.1.080 Crisis Leave Policy

1. Full-time employees may donate their personal accrued vacation leave in either four or eight-hour increments to the crisis leave pool. These donations are completely voluntary, and employees who donate leave will not receive remuneration of any kind for the donation.
   
   
2. Leave donations may be made at a time to be determined by the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. If the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer determines that the crisis leave pool will be inadequate to fill all of the requests for crisis leave during a year, a donation period to replenish it may be announced.
   
   
3. Only accrued vacation leave may be donated to the crisis leave pool.
   
   
4. Vacation leave may not be transferred directly from one employee to another.
   
   
5. Employees who donate vacation leave to the crisis leave pool may not rescind their donation at a later date.

1. The Office of Human Resources will administer the crisis leave pool, and will develop an application process for full-time employees who wish to draw upon the crisis leave pool.
   
   
2. Full-time employees may only draw upon the crisis leave pool if they are in a no-pay status; vacation leave, sick leave and all other personal leave must be exhausted before the employee can draw upon the crisis leave pool.
   
   
3. To be eligible to draw from the crisis leave pool, the full-time employee must have been employed at UCM for at least one year and either a) the employee must have experienced a catastrophic illness or injury, or b) the employee must provide care for a member of their immediate family who has experienced a catastrophic illness or injury.
   
   
4. A request to draw from the pool may be made as soon as the catastrophic illness or injury occurs.
   
   
5. In the event that the full-time employee is physically or mentally unable to initiate a request, a request may be initiated by a member of the employee’s immediate family or by their supervisor.
   
   
6. Documentation of the illness or injury by a medical physician will be required before an employee can draw upon the crisis leave pool.
   
   
7. In order to maintain confidentiality, only the director of the Office of Human Resources, or designee, will have access to the forms and correspondence required by the “Crisis Leave Policy.” 
   
   
8. Leave used from the crisis leave pool will run concurrently with FMLA leave and will not exceed the employee’s remaining annual FMLA entitlement.
   
   
9. The maximum amount of crisis leave that one employee may use in one rolling year is 480 hours.
   
   
10. An FMLA “Healthcare Provider Certification Form” will be required to verify the catastrophic condition. The university may request a second medical opinion.

Donations will only be allowed once a quarter. Deadlines to donate are:

• March 10th
• June 10th
• September 10th
• December 10th

All donations of leave time must be received by the deadline to be accurately reflected in accrual balances. Once donations are submitted they cannot be rescinded.

The maximum number of hours maintained in the Pool Bank will be 660 hours. Should the number drop below 100 hours then the Department of Human Resources will announce a donation period to replenish the pool.

For making a donation: A signed statement indicating the number of earned vacation hours the employee wishes to donate to the bank is to be submitted to the Department of Human Resources with the supervisor's signature. Donation forms are available from the HR website or by contacting the Department of Human Resources. The donations must be in either four- or eight-hour increments.

Employees may not solicit or petition donations on their personal behalf or the behalf of other employees for the Crisis Leave Pool.

An employee may request leave from the Crisis Leave Pool by completing a "Crisis Leave Request Form." The request must be accompanied by the employee's "Family Medical Leave Act" form (if not already on file) and any accompanying documentation to the Department of Human Resources. The Department of Human Resources will review the request to make sure that the employee is eligible to receive crisis leave. The employee requesting crisis leave must provide all requested information necessary to make a final determination of eligibility.

Each request will be time-and-day stamped upon receipt by the Department of Human Resources. When possible, a request is to be submitted at least 10 days before the crisis leave is needed. The Department of Human Resources is allowed 10 working days from the date a request is received (with the required documentation) to approve all or part of the request, or deny the request, and communicate such approval or denial to the employee.

If the request is approved, the Department of Human Resources will credit the approved time to the employee's leave record. Crisis leave will be paid at the receiving employee's rate of pay. An employee in crisis leave status will be considered in paid leave status and will continue to receive benefits as appropriate. Employees on crisis leave will not accrue paid leave.

Any approved crisis leave is used and documented in accordance with the same procedures as regular paid leave taken by the employee. Hours granted from the Crisis Leave Pool may be used only for reasons stipulated in the approved request. The use of leave from the Crisis Leave Pool that is not in accordance with procedures and requirements outlined in the policy may constitute payroll fraud and will be dealt with accordingly. Any unused hours will be returned to the Crisis Leave Pool.

The granting of crisis leave is meant to cover only the circumstances for which it was requested. If any change occurs in the nature or severity of an illness or injury, or of any other factor on which the approval was based, the employee must provide documentation describing the change to the Department of Human Resources. The employee can request more crisis leave subject to the limits outlined in the policy; however, extensions of crisis leave are not automatic.

Departmental budgets will continue to be charged for an employee's salary while they are using hours from the crisis leave pool.