Program Provides Employees Donated Leave

When you are dealing with a serious illness, the last thing you want to worry about is your paycheck. This is the situation that one Georgia Tech employee of almost 10 years (who wished to remain anonymous) found himself in.   

Due to family issues, the employee’s vacation and sick leave hours were running low. Then, he was diagnosed with an unexpected medical condition that caused him to be out of the office for almost a month.  

“It’s prudent for us to have vacation and sick leave in reserve for an emergency,” the employee said. “Yet, despite all our planning, life just happens. This program retroactively donated the hours I wasn’t able to cover with my vacation and sick leave, and I was able to receive a full paycheck the following month. I’m so grateful this program exists.”

Tech’s Donated Sick Leave Program was implemented in 2010 to ensure that employees experiencing a life-threatening or emergency illness don’t have to take a leave of absence without pay. (Note that if an employee has short- or long-term disability, he or she can’t replace it with donated sick leave.)

Employees who wish to donate unused sick leave to the program are able to do so during the annual open enrollment period. A maximum of 80 hours can be donated by one employee.

Since the program started, 49 employees have benefited, and a total of 21,849 hours have been donated.

The program is open to benefits-eligible employees who have worked at Tech for at least 12 months and are in good standing with the Institute. Once an employee applies, the Leave Coordinator in the Office of Human Resources verifies eligibility, and sick and vacation balances.

If the employee qualifies, the request is submitted to the Donated Sick Leave Committee, which approves or denies it based on the medical certification and prognosis. 

For more information about the program, click here.