Employee Benefits Leave and Holidays Catastrophic Leave Bank Program Policy Number: C.E.S.P. 7-8 Date Revised: 10-21-2005 Supersedes: 11-30-2004

Summary: Establishes policies and procedures governing the Catastrophic Leave Bank Program for Extension employees.

I.     Authority

Act 169 of the 1991 Acts of the Arkansas General Assembly authorized a Catastrophic Leave Bank Program for all full-time state employees. Act 1176 of the 1999 Acts amended certain sections of the Arkansas Code pertaining to the Catastrophic Leave Bank Program.

II.    General Information

The Act sets out certain guidelines with regard to who is eligible to contribute to the program, who is eligible to participate in the program, and under what terms participation may be accomplished. The following definitions are provided for reference purposes.

• Catastrophic Illness means a medical condition of an employee, or spouse or parent of the employee, or of a child of the employee claimed as a dependent under the Arkansas Income Tax Act of 1929, as certified by a physician (or other individual as provided in Ark. Code Annotated 21-4-201 et seq.) which requires an employee's absence from duty for a prolonged period of time and which, except for the catastrophic leave program, would result in a substantial loss of income to the employee because of the exhaustion of all earned sick, annual, holiday, and compensatory leave time.

• Catastrophic Leave means paid leave which is transferred to a leave recipient from the U of A Cooperative Extension Service Catastrophic Leave Bank. Catastrophic Leave may be granted in one hour increments. While a recipient is on Catastrophic Leave, he or she will continue to receive standard benefits, such as the employer contributions to insurance and retirement.

• Catastrophic Leave Bank means a pool of accrued annual and sick leave voluntarily donated by full-time, appointed employees which has been approved by the U of A Cooperative Extension Service for use by other employees.

• Catastrophic Leave Bank Program means a program approved by the Director of the State Department of Finance and Administration and administered by the Human Resources Office of the U of A Cooperative Extension Service.

• Catastrophic Leave Committee means a committee consisting of five members who represent a relative demographic cross section of the U of A Cooperative Extension Service work force and who review applications from employees for Catastrophic Leave and make recommendations to the Associate Vice President for Agriculture - Extension relating to such leave.

• Employee means a person who is regularly appointed by the U of A Cooperative Extension Service, compensated on a full-time basis, and eligible to participate in the University's fringe benefits program. A person who works less than full time (40 hours per week) is excluded from this definition and is not eligible to participate as a donor or recipient in the Catastrophic Leave Bank Program.

• Leave Donor means an employee whose voluntary written request to donate accrued annual and/or sick leave to the Extension Catastrophic Leave Bank has been approved by the U of A Cooperative Extension Service. No employee is allowed to be a leave donor if the donation will reduce that employee's combined accrued sick and annual leave to less than 80 hours. An employee may not donate more than 32 hours of sick or annual leave per year. The Associate Vice President for Agriculture - Extension reserves the right to make exceptions to the 32 hour maximum on a case-by-case basis.

• Leave Recipient means a current employee for whom the Associate Vice President for Agriculture - Extension has approved an application to receive Catastrophic Leave from the U of A Cooperative Extension Service Catastrophic Leave Bank.

• Medical Condition means a personal emergency limited to catastrophic and debilitating medical situations, severely complicated disabilities, and severe accidents of the employee or a qualifying family member which cause the employee to be unable to perform assigned job duties, which require a prolonged period of recuperation, and which require the employee's absence from duty as documented by a physician (or other individual as provided in A.C.A. '21-4-201 et seq.). Disabilities resulting from elective surgery do not qualify for catastrophic leave.

• Prolonged Period of Time means a continuous period of time (minimum of thirty (30) working days) whereby a medical condition prevents the employee from performing the employee's duties.

• Substantial Loss of Income means a continuous period of time during which the employee will not be compensated by the U of A Cooperative Extension Service due to a medical condition of self or eligible family member after the exhaustion of all the employee's earned sick, annual, holiday, and compensatory leave.

III.    Catastrophic Leave Committee

This five-member advisory committee consists of employees selected by the Associate Vice President for Agriculture - Extension. The U of A Cooperative Extension Service Benefits Manager and a Human Resources Office staff member will serve as ex-officio, non-voting members.

The Committee will select a chairperson from its membership. Committee recommendations require a minimum of at least four voting members. No committee member will cast a vote where there is an obvious conflict of interest or if the request comes from that member's department.

The charge of the Committee will be:

• Review of Catastrophic Leave Requests.

• Ensure all eligibility requirements are met.

• Recommend action to the Associate Vice President for Agriculture - Extension.

IV.    Catastrophic Leave Committee Guidelines

The Committee will utilize the following guidelines to review Catastrophic Leave requests:

• No employee will be eligible for approved Catastrophic Leave in excess of six continuous months in a one-year period.

• Employees are eligible for Catastrophic Leave only when all accrued annual, sick, holiday and compensatory time has been exhausted. The employee must have been employed by the U of A Cooperative Extension Service or state agency in a full-time, benefits-eligible position for at least two years. The employee must not have been disciplined for any leave abuse during the past two years.

• If the illness or injury is that of the employee and is covered by worker's compensation, the total amount of the catastrophic leave compensation plus the weekly worker's compensation benefit received by the employee cannot exceed the compensation being received by the employee at the onset of the illness or injury.

• No employee will be approved for Catastrophic Leave unless the employee has provided an acceptable medical certificate from a physician (or other individual as provided in A.C.A. ''21-4-201 et seq. and 6-63-602) supporting the continued absence, and setting forth that the employee is and will continue to be unable to perform the employee's duties due to a catastrophic illness of the employee or a qualifying family member. Information relative to the employee's assigned duties must be made available to the physician and to the Catastrophic Leave Committee.

• In no case will the employee be granted Catastrophic Leave beyond the date certified by a physician as the date when the employee is able to return to work because the health of either the employee or the qualifying family member has sufficiently improved.

• Catastrophic Leave requests which would result in a negative balance in the U of A Cooperative Extension Services Catastrophic Leave Bank will not be approved.

• The decision of the Associate Vice President for Agriculture - Extension will be final and binding. Nothing, however, will prevent the Associate Vice President for Agriculture - Extension from taking into account the impact of the organization's operation in granting or denying Catastrophic Leave or in modifying previously approved Catastrophic Leave.

• Applications for Catastrophic Leave will be reviewed on a first-filed, first-considered basis.

V.    Prohibition of Coercion

No employee may directly or indirectly intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other employee for the purpose of interfering with any such employee's decision to donate or receive Catastrophic Leave.

VI.   General Rules of Operation

A. Eligible employees on Catastrophic Leave will continue to accrue leave in accordance with existing leave policies. Any leave earned while an employee is on Catastrophic Leave must, as a condition of voluntary participation in the program, be assigned to the Catastrophic Leave Bank, and any restriction concerning the maintenance of minimum leave balances will not apply to such assignment. Employees on Catastrophic Leave will receive normal benefits such as the U of A Cooperative Extension Service contributions to insurance and retirement. Employees on Catastrophic Leave will continue to receive their normal pay. Catastrophic Leave will not change an employee's increase eligibility dates; however, the award of any merit salary increase will be delayed for the same number of work days that the employee was on Catastrophic Leave.  An employee on Catastrophic Leave will be eligible for any July 1 across-the-board increase approved for classified employees.

B. Any unused Catastrophic Leave will be returned to the Catastrophic Leave Bank in the event the employee terminates employment, retires, or returns to work prior to the expiration of the previously approved Catastrophic Leave period. An employee may be dismissed if he or she fails to report to work promptly at the expiration of the period of approved Catastrophic Leave. The Catastrophic Leave Bank Program does not create any expectation or promise of continued employment.

C. Donations to the Catastrophic Leave Bank Program may only be submitted during the December open donation period, upon resignation or upon retirement. No employee will be allowed to donate leave to the Catastrophic Leave Bank Program if such donation will reduce that employee's combined accrued sick leave and annual leave balance to less than 80 hours. This does not apply to employees who are terminating their employment. Accrued annual or sick leave may be donated in no less than one (1) hour increments up to a combined (sick and/or annual) maximum of 32 hours per year.

D. Catastrophic Leave will not be awarded retroactively.

VII.   Record Keeping Requirements

In order to comply with State rules, the U of A Cooperative Extension Service Catastrophic Leave Program must include a record keeping procedure which tracks:

A. The hours donated by each employee, the rate of pay and the dollar value of such donated leave at the time of donation;

B. The hours of Catastrophic Leave awarded, including the name of the recipient, position number, rate of pay and social security number; and

C. Any other data as required by the Director of the Department of Finance and Administration.

These records should be retained by the U of A Cooperative Extension Service subject to the audit by the Department of Finance and Administration and the Division of Legislative Audit.

Forms:

EBEN-103: Catastrophic Leave Bank Program Donor Application Form

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