The purpose of this policy is to establish uniform standards
throughout City government for a donated leave program.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
A life-threatening condition or combination of conditions,
or a period of disability required by his or her mental or physical
health or the health of the employee's fetus, which requires the care
of a physician who provides a medical verification of the need for
the employee's absence from work for 60 or more workdays.
A life-threatening condition or combination of conditions,
or a period of disability required by his or her mental or physical
health, which requires the care of a physician who provides a medical
verification of the need for the family member's care by the employee
for 60 or more workdays.
An employee's spouse, domestic partner, child, legal ward,
grandchild, foster child, father, mother, legal guardian, grandfather,
grandmother, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, and other
relatives residing in the employee's household.
An employee shall be eligible to receive donated sick or vacation
leave if the employee meets the following requirements:
A.
The employee has completed at least one year of continuous service
with the City;
B.
The employee has exhausted all accrued sick, vacation, and administrative
leave, all sick leave injury benefits, including the New Jersey disability
compensation, if any, and all compensatory time off;
C.
If after three months of collecting New Jersey disability compensation
and the employee has exhausted his family medical leave, the city
will continue to pay the employer share of health benefits until the
New Jersey disability compensation has been exhausted. The employee
will be responsible for the employee contribution and payment must
be current.
D.
The employee has not been disciplined for chronic or excessive absenteeism,
chronic or excessive lateness, or abuse of leave in the two-year period
immediately preceding the employee's need for donated leave; and
E.
The employee has any of the following qualifying conditions:
(1)
Suffers from a catastrophic health condition or injury;
(2)
Is needed to provide care to a member of the employee's immediate
family who is suffering from a catastrophic health condition or injury;
or
(3)
Requires absence from work due to the donation of an organ which
shall include, for example, the donation of bone marrow.
A.
An employee may request the City Administrator to approve his or
her participation in the program as a leave donor or leave recipient.
The employee's department head may make such a request on behalf of
the employee for his or her participation in the program as a leave
recipient.
B.
The employee or department head requesting the employee's acceptance
as a leave recipient shall submit to the City Administrator medical
verification from a physician or other licensed health care provider
concerning the nature and anticipated duration of the disability resulting
from either the catastrophic health condition or injury, or the donation
of an organ, as the case may be.
C.
When the City Administrator has approved an employee as a leave recipient,
the City Administrator shall, with the employee's consent, post or
circulate the employee's name along with those of other eligible employees
in a conspicuous manner to encourage the donation of leave time and
shall provide notice to all negotiations representatives in that appointing
authority.
D.
If the employee is unable to consent to this posting or circulation,
the employee's family may consent on his or her behalf.
A.
A leave recipient must receive at least 40 sick hours or vacation
hours or a combination thereof from one or more leave donors to participate
in the donated leave program. A leave donor shall donate only whole
sick days (seven hours for 35 hours/week employees; all others eight
hours) or whole vacation days (seven hours for 35 hours/week employees;
all others eight hours) and may not donate more than 30 such days
to any one recipient. A leave recipient shall receive no more than
2,080 sick hours or vacation hours and shall not receive any such
time on a retroactive basis.
B.
A leave donor shall have remaining at least 160 hours of accrued
sick leave if donating sick leave and at least 96 hours of accrued
vacation leave if donating vacation leave. Any person who has given
notice of resignation or retirement will not be able to donate sick
leave.
No vacation, sick, or personal time will accrue while an employee
is on donated leave, unless otherwise stated in their respective collective
bargaining agreement.
A.
Any unused donated leave shall be returned to the leave donors on
a prorated basis upon the leave recipient's return to work, except
that if the proration of leave time results in less than seven or
eight hours per donor, depending on the donors' regular schedules,
to be returned, that leave time shall not be returned.
B.
Upon retirement, the leave recipient shall not be granted supplemental
compensation on retirement for any unused sick time which he or she
had received through the leave donation program.
An employee shall be prohibited from coercing or threatening,
or attempting to coerce or threaten, another employee for the purpose
of interfering with the rights involving donating, receiving or using
donated leave time. Such prohibited acts shall include, but not be
limited to, promising to confer or conferring a benefit such as an
appointment or promotion, or making a threat to engage in, or engaging
in, an act of retaliation against an employee.
The City may suspend or terminate the donated leave program
at any time upon 30 days' written notice of such suspension or termination
to the Commissioner of the Civil Service Commission and all affected
employees and labor negotiations representatives.
