Cobb Reporter

During Open Enrollment, employees can donate sick leave hours to a pool benefiting those who need them.

Each year during Open Enrollment, faculty and staff have an opportunity to participate in Georgia Tech’s Shared Sick Leave program, which Tech has offered since 2010. The Shared Sick Leave Program allows employees to donate unused sick leave to a pool where it can be used by other Georgia Tech employees who have used all of their accumulated paid leave but are experiencing serious health conditions.

To enroll in the Shared Sick Leave program, a minimum donation of eight hours (prorated for part-time employees) is required. (Donations may not exceed 80 hours.) After making your donation, employees must have a minimum of 40 sick leave hours (prorated for part-time employees) remaining as of Jan. 1, 2023 The transfer of your donated leave to the Shared Leave pool is expected to occur during the first week of January 2023. Only employees who are enrolled in the Shared Sick Leave program are eligible to receive donations from the pool if they run out of their own accrued sick leave.  

If you are already a member of the Shared Sick Leave program, donations are not required each year and are voluntary unless the pool is considered depleted. If you are not sure if you are already a member of the Shared Sick Leave program, contact the Administrative Service Center online or by phone at 404.385.1111.

Qualified requests for leave hours from the pool include conditions or circumstances that meet the Family and Medical Leave Act’s definition of a serious health condition, including the birth of a child.

Membership in the pool is open to full-time and part-time employees who have met their six-month probationary period. Shared sick leave cannot be used in conjunction with Workers Compensation, or short- or long-term disability.

“Being a member of the program was a life saver,” said one enrollee who benefited from it. “Having this extra layer of income protection at a time when I needed it most was greatly appreciated.”

Leave donations cannot be withdrawn, but members are allowed to withdraw or resume membership each year during Open Enrollment. Employees enrolled in the Optional Retirement Plan who are nearing retirement are encouraged to consider participating, because their unused sick leave hours  cannot be cashed in or used toward creditable service at retirement.

Georgia Tech Human Resources is the administrator for the Shared Sick Leave program. If the pool drops to fewer than 120 hours, all members will be notified of the depleted pool status, and each member will automatically be charged eight hours of sick time to replenish the pool.

Registration for the pool will be available during 2023 Open Enrollment, which runs from Oct. 24 through Nov. 4. For questions about qualified requests, donating hours, or involvement in the pool, contact the Administrative Service Center online or by phone at 404.385.1111.

More details about the program can be found at hr.gatech.edu/shared-sick-leave.

Original source can be found here.