Sick Time Donation Policy

Abstract:
Under certain circumstances, a UAB or UAB Medicine employee may voluntarily donate and/or receive accrued sick time under a sick time donation plan as described in this policy.

Review/Revised Date: 8/29/2022

Category: Human Resources

Policy Owner: CHRO

Policy Contact: Executive Director Human Resources - Records Administration

INTRODUCTION

Under certain circumstances, an employee may voluntarily donate and/or receive accrued sick time under a sick time donation plan as described in this policy.

SCOPE

This policy is applicable to employees classified as Workforce Groups A and C and faculty who are eligible to accrue sick time based on their employment category. The Sick Time Donation Pool applies only to UAB employees and UAB Hospital LLC employees.

DEFINITIONS

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): FMLA is a federal requirement which allows eligible employees to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") in a rolling 12-month period for medical and family related reasons.

Injury or Illness: Injury or Illness is defined as a medical condition which requires an employee to be placed on an official continuous leave of absence and is documented by the attending physician.

Spouse: Spouse means a husband or wife as defined or recognized under state law for purposes of marriage in the state where the employee resides, including common law marriage in states where it is recognized.

Parent: Parent means a biological, adoptive, step or foster father or mother, or any other individual who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a son or daughter. This term does not include parents "in law". Note: The "in loco parentis" relationship exists when an individual intends to take on the role of a parent to a child who is under 18 or 18 years of age or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.

Child: Son or daughter means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis, who is either under age 18, or age 18 or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.

Sick Time Donation Pool: A bank of sick time hours donated by UAB employees and managed by Human Resources for the purposes of assisting eligible employees in need of sick time hours during an eligible leave event.

Direct Donation: A direct donation consists of donations of sick time from a donor directly to a recipient employed by the same entity.

POLICY STATEMENT

This policy addresses a donation plan whereby accrued sick leave may be donated and/or received by eligible employees who may or may not be eligible for a Family Medical Leave Absence (FMLA).

ELIGIBILITY

Any employee who accrues sick time is eligible to donate sick time under this policy as long as the donating employee maintains at least twenty days of accrued sick time in their personal account.

Any employee who accrues sick time and is on a UAB approved leave of absence is eligible to receive sick donations. Refer to the charts below for eligibility and donation details.

Eligibility Chart
Qualifying Reasons	Eligibility for Direct Donations		Eligibility for Pool Donations
Qualifying Reasons	FMLA	Non FMLA	FMLA	Non FMLA
Employee Illness	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Family Illness	Yes	No	Yes	No
Other Parental Leave (Adoption/Foster Care/Bond with Child)	Yes	N/A*	Yes	No
* For Other Parental Leave, an employee must be FMLA eligible to be eligible for Parental Leave. Therefore, N/A is shown for Non FMLA Direct Donations.

Lifetime Maximum Donation Chart
FMLA vs. Non-FMLA Leave	Direct Donations	Pool Donations
FMLA eligible	480 hours lifetime max	240 hours lifetime max
Non FMLA eligible	480 hours lifetime max	240 hours lifetime max

CONDITIONS AND NOTICE

Additional conditions of this policy are detailed in the associated Sick Time Donation Procedure. Employees are expected to abide by this policy and its related policies and procedures.

UAB Employees are reminded that unused sick time may be applied toward creditable service under the Teachers' Retirement System of Alabama. Employees should consider the financial impact of losing Teachers' Retirement System creditable service before donating their sick time to another employee. Under no circumstances will previously donated sick time be reinstated or transferred back to the donating employee for any reason, including for retirement plan purposes.

There may be financial consequences for the recipient's department/unit if another person must be hired temporarily to cover the recipient's job responsibilities while he or she is using the additional donated sick time.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Office of the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration is responsible for implementation of this policy and its corresponding procedures.

(Replaces policy dated February 1, 2017)

Related Policies
Family and Medical Leave of Absence Policy
Sick Time Donation Procedure
Sick Time - HR Policy 303