CONTENTS
The shared leave program allows eligible Washington state employees who accrue leave to donate some of their accrued annual leave, sick leave, and/or personal holiday hours to a co-worker or other state employee who will need to take leave without pay or separate from employment for the reasons listed below under "Receiving Shared Leave."
All requests to donate and receive shared leave are subject to the supervisor's or administrator's approval.
In addition to donations that one employee may make directly to another employee, eligible employees may request to donate to or receive shared leave hours from the state's Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool (USSLP). To be eligible to receive shared leave from the pool the following requirements must be met:
An employee is eligible to receive shared leave donations if the employee:
NOTE: An employee is not eligible to receive shared leave for illness or injury if the employee is approved for time loss compensation (also called workers’ compensation) from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I).
Employees may receive and use a maximum of 261 days of shared leave during their entire state employment.
Employee donations of shared leave must meet the following requirements specific to the type of leave being donated:
| Type of Leave | Leave Donation Requirements |
|---|---|
| Annual Leave | Employees may donate four (4) or more hours, as long as they retain an annual leave balance of at least ten (10) days after the donation is deducted. Classified employees may not donate any annual leave hours accrued above the 240-hour maximum if they would otherwise not have had sufficient time to use them before their next anniversary date. |
| Sick Leave | Employees may donate four (4) or more hours, as long as they retain a sick leave balance of at least 176 hours after the donation is deducted |
| Personal Holiday | Employees may donate four (4) or more hours of the personal holiday. Any personal holiday hours not donated must be used at one time within the current calendar year. |
Employees can donate leave to an employee who has been called to duty in one of the uniformed services of the United States, and have the option of donating to a specific individual and/or to a state-managed pool of leave from which eligible employees can request to receive shared leave while on duty.
An employee continues to accrue sick and annual leave if the employee is not off the payroll for more than ten (10) working days in a month. Timekeepers should apply monthly leave accruals as they are earned before applying shared leave. However, an employee who receives shared leave may retain up to 32 hours of shared leave to use over a four (4) month period, at eight (8) hours per month, specifically for the purpose of retaining insurance benefits.
Any unused shared leave that is donated to an individual employee must be returned at its original value to the shared leave donor(s) when the leave is no longer needed, or will not be needed in the future. Before unused shared leave for illness or injury is returned, the UW must receive a statement verifying that the illness or injury is resolved from the doctor of the employee who received the shared leave.
Donations of shared leave to the state's uniformed services shared leave pool are permanent and are never returned to a donating employee.
Human Resources will notify the requesting employee and the supervisor of the request's approval status.
To request shared leave from the state's Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool, download, complete and submit the special Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool request form (pdf) according to the form's instructions.
Human Resources will notify the donating employee, the supervisor, and the unit's timekeeper of the donation's approval status.
Download and complete and submit the special Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool shared leave donation form (pdf) according to the form's instructions.
Shared leave eligibility ends either when an employee returns to work, a medical condition improves to the point where it no longer qualifies for shared leave or the employee is separated from employment.
If an employees health care provider recommends a gradual return to work, additional shared leave use may be approved according to the situation. Contact the Human Resources Operations Office that serves the employing unit to request approval for use of additional shared leave.
When an employee is able to return to work, the employee will need to take the following steps in order to resume regular work status:
Upon completion of the steps above, the shared leave eligibility period has ended. If there is a reason to again request shared leave the employee will have to submit a new request to receive shared leave.
Unused shared leave hours will be returned to the donors on a prorated basis. If personal holiday hours are returned, they may only be used or re-donated in the calendar year accrued.