HR Note - January 2006

SICK LEAVE POOL

You may refer to Policy #07-15 in your white HR orientation 3 ring binder or in the Policy Manual on our Website under Faculty & Staff.

Purpose:     Valencias Sick Leave Pool (SLP) program is designed to assist participating members of the pool who have exhausted all of their own accrued sick leave.  Use of the pool has helped many College employees continue receiving a paycheck as they recover from serious accidents or illnesses.

Eligibility for Membership:     Any full-time employee is eligible to join the pool provided that by an enrollment period he or she has been employed full-time with the College for 12 months, has accumulated 10 days of unused sick leave, and has not declined a previous enrollment opportunity as a regular employee of the College.  Enrollment periods are held twice a calendar year and typically include the March and September sick leave accrual and usage.

If all of the eligibility requirements are not met during an enrollment period, the employees sick leave status is reviewed during the NEXT enrollment period.  Some employees may take several years to have 10 or more days of accrued and unused sick leave.

Once a member, the employee does NOT have to maintain a sick leave balance of 10 days.

Procedure to Join:     When all of the eligibility requirements are met the employee will receive a packet of materials through interoffice mail during an enrollment period.  It will consist of a cover memo, copy of the SLP Policy, and a form to complete and return to HR.  The form is used to join SLP or decline membership.  Payroll verifies an employees sick leave balance before a member is officially enrolled in SLP.  A membership fee of 3 days of sick leave is assessed only one time.  If the pool needs to be replenished, members of the pool will be assessed 1 day of sick leave.  You remain a member of the SLP until you leave the College or resign in writing from the SLP.  An employee does not have to maintain a minimum sick leave balance to remain a member of the pool.

Procedure to Use:     Any sick leave drawn from the pool must be used for the employees personal illness, accident, or injury.  Elective surgery and family illness is not covered by this program.  A member will be eligible to draw days from the SLP only after he or she has exhausted all of his or her own sick leave.  In a 12 month draw period, a member will be able to draw whichever is greater:  30 days or equal to the number of days accrued up to 120 days.  Contact Human Resources at x8028, to obtain the doctor authorization forms.

Please share this information with all full-time employees in your department.  If anyone should have questions, please direct them to contact the SLP coordinator in Human Resources at x8080.

HR Notes #55

January, 2006