Vacation Donation Program Guidelines

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide a framework for full-time employees who earn vacation and sick hours and experience a personal catastrophic illness, injury, or event that results in an absence of 30 calendar days or more. This program allows co-workers within the same position funding source to donate accumulated vacation hours to support the affected employee, under the conditions outlined below. Please note that vacation donations are not applicable for elective or planned events.

Definition of Catastrophic Situations

Catastrophic Illness: A sudden and unexpected medical condition or injury that incapacitates the employee or the employee's immediate family member (as defined by FMLA regulations: spouse, child, or parent).

Catastrophic Event: A sudden and unexpected crisis requiring the employee to be unavailable for work.

Process

1. Request - Employees must contact Absence Management (AM) at (814) 865-1782 or [email protected] to submit a request and provide necessary supporting documentation. AM will consult with the employee prior to their unpaid leave to determine if their situation qualifies for a vacation donation.

2. Approval - AM will review the request and notify the employee of the decision regarding eligibility.

3. Announcement - Upon approval, AM will prepare an email announcement for the unit HR to distribute to the appropriate listserv. The announcement may be sent anonymously at the employee’s request and will be active for 10 calendar days. It may be resent once if the employee does not receive the maximum amount of donated time. The announcement will include instructions on how to donate hours.

4. Donation Allowance - Employees can donate a maximum of 16 hours per request in 8-hour increments only. The recipient employee may receive up to 240 hours per request and may only request a vacation donation twice per leave within a 12-month rolling calendar period. For reduced full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, the donations received will be prorated based on their annual FTE percentage (e.g., an 85% FTE employee would be eligible for up to 204 hours).

Usage of Time

Donated time must be used continuously until the employee can return to work. Intermittent use is not allowed. Employees must exhaust all applicable time off to be eligible for vacation donation, in accordance with HR34. Any additional time off earned while receiving donations must be used before the donated hours; the employee cannot retain it for future use.

Donated Hours in Workday

Absence Management will send an instructional email to employees donating vacation hours, including their supervisors, to guide them in entering these donations into Workday. Absence Management will also be responsible for entering donated hours and ensuring accurate time-off entries.

Management of Remaining Donations

Any unused donations at the time the employee returns to work will be forfeited and pooled for future requests within the position funding source area, as managed by Absence Management.

Pool Process

Previously donated vacation hours will be allocated to the next qualified employee in the designated area. If additional hours are needed, a request will be sent.

Interaction with Benefits

Short-Term Disability (STD)

Employees cannot simultaneously receive STD benefits and vacation donations. Donated hours must be used before the employee can receive STD benefits through Unum. Claims with Unum should be filed at the time of absence to prevent coverage gaps.

Long-Term Disability (LTD)

Employees receiving LTD benefits through Unum are not eligible for any further donations once benefits begin.

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

FMLA will run concurrently with any donated time as applicable.

Workers’ Compensation 

Vacation donations are not applicable to compensable WC claims/leaves. Employees will receive lost wages from Broadspire and should adhere to WC Act regulations regarding lost time/lost wages.

For any questions related to the vacation donation process or if you require further assistance, please contact Absence Management directly at (814) 865-1782 or [email protected] .