It's a little-known employee program that extends a big-time helping hand to those in need.
UC Davis' catastrophic leave sharing program gives staff and academic employees a chance to support their colleagues who are facing a major health crisis -- whether their own or that of a family member -- by donating vacation leave. Otherwise, an employee who runs out of leave would go on unpaid status.
"The problem is that not enough people know about catastrophic leave sharing," said Beverly Wilcox, a policy analyst in human resources. "We're getting the word out so employees and managers know when and how to take advantage of this humanitarian policy."
UC Davis established its catastrophic leave sharing program in 1996, and a year later the UC system implemented its version, which is virtually the same. About 20 UC Davis employees used the leave sharing program between January 2003 and January 2004, Wilcox said.
Helping others in a 'concrete way'
Under catastrophic leave sharing, an academic or staff employee can donate accrued vacation to a colleague who has used up all of his or her accrued leave due to the serious illness or injury of the employee or a family member. Only vacation credits -- no sick leave -- can be given. The campus requires that a physician attest to the severity of the illness or disorder involved.
If an employee perceives a need to ask for catastrophic leave sharing, they should approach their supervisor. That request for catastrophic leave sharing requires the approval of the department head, who then forwards the request on to the campus's employee and labor relations unit for final approval. Finally, the supervisor or unit manager can send out a notification to fellow employees requesting leave donations.
"When the supervisor sends out the memo, medical confidentiality is always kept in mind," Wilcox noted.
She herself has donated vacation credits to various colleagues several times. "It feels great to help someone in a very concrete way."
Cheryl Smith was the manager of the Center for Ecological Health Research three years ago when an employee received a call that her mother was dying overseas. This trip used up that employee's three weeks of leave -- and she was pregnant at the time. The employee, who wishes not to be identified, then returned to Davis and began having pregnancy difficulties; doctors told her to stay home from work.
"To make matters worse, her husband lost his job and the family had no other benefits except hers," said Smith, who now works as the assistant director of the John Muir Institute. "Plus, a snafu with her disability kept her from making use of that program. That's when we decided to request catastrophic leave sharing."
Smith said donations to this employee were plentiful -- not all of it was used in fact. Three years later that employee has a healthy child and still works at UC Davis.
Smith noted that people who have reached the maximum limits on their vacation credits were frequent contributors in this case. "This way they can lower their vacation balance and not lose any future accruals."
June Taylor, chief administrative office in the human and community development department, said a few years ago an employee in her unit was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Taylor said this employee received enough leave credits through the catastrophic leave program that she was able to remain on pay status when she died, allowing her children to receive the benefit of her life insurance afterward.
Vast majority of requests approved
Bob Nevraumont, an employee and labor relations consultant in human resources, estimates that his unit approves about 95 percent of catastrophic leave requests. Once workers hear of a need from another colleague, strong support surfaces.
"We find that people donate quite generously, often more than the employee needs to use. Unused vacation credits are returned to their original holder once the leave is complete."
Nevraumont emphasized the recipient must exhaust all paid leave before using donations.
Wilcox said a catastrophic illness is defined as a serious illness or injury that incapacitates an employee or an eligible family member and is expected to use up all of the employee's accrued leave. An eligible family member is an employee's spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild; in-laws and step-relatives in these relationships; or any other person in the employee's household for which there is a personal obligation.
She added that a staff employee must hold a career appointment and have passed probation and the waiting period to use vacation. Donations may be made across units, divisions, and departments within UC Davis.
In October 2003, the university tweaked the program to make it more "user friendly," noted Wilcox. Among other revisions, the campus clarified that catastrophic leave sharing can take place between employees at the Davis campus and the Medical Center, added the requirement that the employee be approved for leave before receiving donations, and brought the policy-up-to-date with recent changes in medical confidentiality laws.
If employees want more information, Wilcox said, they should visit http://www.hr.ucdavis.edu/Pubs/All/Cat_leave.
Dennis Shimek, senior associate vice chancellor for human resources, describes the Catastrophic Leave Sharing Program as "very important to the quality of work-life on campus.
"We encourage departments and managers to help ensure that every employee who experiences a catastrophic event has an opportunity to consider using the program," he said.
In addition to catastrophic leave, UC Davis offers employees other work-life benefits such as telecommuting, tailored job structuring, flexible project teaming, job sharing, alternate work schedules, compressed work weeks, employee assistance and referral programs, disability return-to-work programs, childcare services and eldercare resources.