The state of Washington’s Shared Leave Program allows time off accruing employees to donate their accrued time off to another state employee who is experiencing a severe, extraordinary, or life-threatening health crisis, for parental leave, pregnancy disability, or other qualifying circumstance. Donated time off is intended to help employees in these circumstances manage absences financially after they have depleted or nearly depleted their own paid time off. Donated time is deducted from the donor’s time off balances at the time the donation is approved.

To receive shared leave, you must:

• Hold a position that accrues time off

• Have a qualifying reason

• Have used (or will soon deplete) your accrued or paid time off that you may be eligible to use based on the following:

The criteria for an illness or injury under shared leave is different from those for FMLA. Examples of “extraordinary or severe” situations that typically meet the criteria for shared leave typically include:

• Major surgery with inpatient hospital stay

• Outpatient surgery for severe condition

• Cancer and treatment

• Hospitalization for a severe physical or mental condition

• Enrollment in an ongoing behavioral health treatment program (inpatient or day) requiring continuous leave from work

• Bed rest due to high-risk, pregnancy-related complications

Conditions that do not typically meet the criteria include but is not limited to:

• Flu

• Chicken pox

• Strep throat

• Sprained ankle

• Elective cosmetic surgery

• Intermittent leave for chronic, ongoing medical conditions

The District uses the information provided by a health-care provider to determine whether the medical condition meets the definition of “severe, extraordinary, or life-threatening.”

An employee receiving shared leave and workers’ compensation for a job-related injury or illness may not receive more than twenty-five percent of their base salary from shared leave. This does not affect the amount an employee may “top-up” using accrued time off while receiving workers’ compensation benefits.

Parental Leave – Non-Birth Parent

For the purposes of shared leave usage, parental leave means to bond and care for a newborn child after birth or to bond and care for a child after placement for adoption or foster care, for a period of up to sixteen (16) weeks of continuous leave immediately after the birth or placement.

Parental Leave – Birth Parent

For the purposes of shared leave usage, parental leave means to bond and care for a newborn child immediately after birth or to bond and care for a child after placement for adoption or foster care, for a period of up to sixteen (16) weeks of continuous leave following the time allowed for pregnancy disability, if applicable.

Process for Request for Shared Leave

1. Submit your absence in the Frontline System

2. Review eligibility guidelines above

3. Fill out the Shared Leave Request Form

4. Submit Shared Leave Request Form to the Human Resources office with your documentation

5. Furnish periodic reports of status to Human Resources

Shared leave hours are paid at your regular rate of pay.

You may receive leave donations from multiple employees. However, you are limited to a maximum of 260 days of leave. A day is equivalent to eight hours for a full-time employee. For part-time employees, a day is prorated according to their FTE. For example, a day for a 0.5 FTE employee is four hours.

Your eligibility to receive shared leave ends for any of the following reasons:

• The time frame to use parental shared leave has expired

• You no longer have a severe, extraordinary, or life-threatening medical condition

• Your relative or household member no longer has a severe, extraordinary, or life-threatening medical condition, or has passed away

• Other eligibility criteria for shared leave use no longer apply to you

You are expected to return to work on the date specified in your leave approval. If your return will be delayed for any reason, contact your supervisor as soon as possible.

If your health-care provider recommends a gradual return to work, you may be able to use additional shared leave for a reduced schedule or as intermittent time off, with HR approval.

Shared leave may be used only for the qualifying medical condition or reason approved in your shared leave request. Unused shared leave will be returned to the donor in accordance with state law. You may not cash out donated sick leave through the Attendance Incentive Program.

Any time off-accruing employee with adequate time off balances may donate vacation, sick, or personal holiday time off hours. Donated time is deducted from the donor’s time off balances at the time the donation is approved.

Time off must be donated in amounts of one or more hours of any eligible type.

Additionally, you must meet the following requirements:

Your donation must be made to a specific individual who has been approved to receive shared leave donations. That individual may be a District employee or someone employed by another Washington state agency.

Follow these steps to donate:

1. Verify you meet donation criteria

2. Complete the Leave Share Donation Form (PDF)

3. Submit the Leave Share Donation Form to Human Resources

State law restricts the circumstances under which shared leave may be returned to the donor. If your unused hours are returned, you may use them for your own time off needs or donate them to someone else.

A shared leave donation is a monetary transfer between employees.

The dollar amount transferred is based on the:

• Number of hours donated

• Donor’s hourly equivalent pay rate including benefit load amount

Payroll calculates the amount to be transferred and transfers the funds.

Time off donation value is calculated as follows:

(donor’s hourly salary rate) x (total time off hours donated) = total donation value

The hours of shared leave credited to the recipient is calculated as follows:

(total donation value) / (recipient’s hourly salary rate) = total shared leave hours received

In accordance with state law, donated hours will rarely be returned. When unused hours are returned, they will be returned at their original value to the donor(s). HR calculates the hours to be returned and updates the balances in Frontline to reflect the return.

An employee is considered an “approved” emergency worker when all of the following apply:

• The federal or any state government has declared a state of emergency anywhere within the United States

• The employee has the skills needed to assist in responding to the emergency or its aftermath and volunteers their services to either a governmental agency or nonprofit organization

• The governmental agency or nonprofit accepts the employee’s offer of volunteer services

A person who resides in the same home and who provides reciprocal personal and financial support to the employee

A spouse, registered domestic partner, child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, sibling, or grandparent

Include:

• Air Force

• Army

• Coast Guard

• Marine Corps

• Navy

• National Guard

• Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps

• SB Policy 5406 Shared Leave Program

• RCW 49.76.115 Domestic Violence in the Workplace

• RCW 9A.46.110 Sexual Assault

• RCW 70.125.030 Stalking

• SB Policy 5407 Leave Related to Active Military Duty

• SB Policy 5404 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Coverage for District Employees

• RCW 41.04.650 to 670 Washington State Shared Leave Program

• WAC 357-31-380 to 460