Shared Leave Program
UNDERSTAND
The shared leave program allows Washington state employees to donate part of their accrued annual leave, sick leave, and/or personal holiday hours to co-workers or other state employees whose own, eligible accrued leave has been depleted, and who will need to take leave without pay or separate from employment for the reasons described below under "Receiving Shared Leave Donations". All regular state employees who accrue leave, and who meet eligibility requirements may donate and receive shared leave.
Shared Leave Maximum
Employees may receive and use a maximum of 261 days of shared leave during their entire state employment.
Receiving Shared Leave Donations
An employee is eligible to receive shared leave donated by other employees if:
- The employee has a severe, extraordinary, or life-threatening illness or injury; or has caregiver responsibilities for a relative or a household member with a severe, extraordinary, or life-threatening illness or injury, and
the employee has used or is about to use all of the employee’s eligible annual and sick leave; or,
- The employee is called to serve in the uniformed services and
the employee has used or is about to use all of the employee’s eligible annual and paid military leave; or,
- The employee is serving as an approved emergency worker, and
the employee has used or is about to use all of the employee’s eligible annual leave.
NOTE: An employee is not eligible to receive shared leave for illness or injury if the employee is approved for time loss compensation (also called workers’ compensation) from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I).
Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool
An employee who has been called to duty in one of the uniformed services of the United States, may be eligible to request and receive shared leave from the state's Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool. To be eligible to receive shared leave from the pool the following requirements must be met:
- There must be leave available in the pool
- You have or will shortly deplete your paid military leave, compensatory time, vacation leave, and personal holiday;
- Your monthly military salary [as defined in WAC 357-31-650(4)] is less than your state monthly salary [as defined in WAC 357-31-650(5)]. However, up to eight hours per month may be used from the pool, to continue coverage under the Public Employee’s Benefit Board regardless of the employee’s monthly state salary and military salary.
Donating Shared Leave
Eligibility to Donate Shared Leave
- Annual leave
- An employee may donate four (4) or more hours as long as the employee retains an annual leave balance of at least ten (10) days after the donation is deducted.
- Classified staff employees may not donate any annual leave hours accrued above the 240-hour maximum they would otherwise not have had sufficient time to use before their next anniversary date.
- Sick leave
- An employee may donate four (4) or more hours as long as the employee retains a sick leave balance of at least 176 hours after the donation is deducted.
- Personal Holiday
- An employee may donate four (4) or more hours of the personal holiday. Any personal holiday hours not donated must be used at one time within the current calendar year.
Employees can donate leave to an employee who has been called to duty in one of the uniformed services of the United States, and have the option of donating to a specific individual and/or to a state-managed pool of leave from which eligible employees can request to receive shared leave while on duty.
Using Shared Leave
An employee continues accrue sick and annual leave if the employee is not off the payroll for more than ten (10) working days in a month. Timekeepers should apply monthly leave accruals as they are earned before applying shared leave. However, an employee who receives shared leave may retain up to 32 hours of shared leave to use over a four (4) month period, at eight (8) hours per month,
specifically for the purpose of retaining insurance benefits.
Return of Unused Shared Leave
Donations to Individuals
Any unused shared leave that is donated to an individual employee must be returned at its original value to the shared leave donor(s) when the leave is no longer needed, or will not be needed in the future. Before unused shared leave for illness or injury is returned, the UW must receive from the doctor of the employee who received the shared leave a statement verifying that the illness or injury is resolved.
Donations to the Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool
Donations of shared leave to the state's uniformed services shared leave pool are permanent and are never returned to a donating employee.
ACT
Request Shared Leave
- Employees who meet the eligibility requirements outlined above, download and complete the shared leave request form that is appropriate for the reason you are requesting shared leave;
- Shared Leave Request Form (pdf)- For a personal severe, extraordinary, or life-threatening illness or injury or to care for a family or household member with one.
- For leave due to a serious health condition, employees will be required provide a medical statement signed by a licensed health care provider that verifies the condition which requires your absence, and that provides the beginning date of treatment and the date you are expected to return to work.
- Shared Leave Request Form (pdf) - For active duty service in a uniformed service of the United States or for serving as an approved emergency worker.
- For active duty service in a uniformed service employees will need to provide a copy of their military orders.
- For service as an emergency worker employees will need to provide proof that they have volunteered your services to a governmental agency or to a nonprofit organization engaged in humanitarian relief in an area of the United states where a state of emergency has been declared, and that a governmental agency or nonprofit organization has accepted your offer of service.
- Employees submit the completed request form to their supervisor for completion and forwarding to your unit's Human Resources Operations Office.
- The Human Resources Operations Office will notify employees requesting shared leave and their supervisors with the determination of your shared leave request.
Request Shared Leave From the Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool
To request shared leave from the state's Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool, download, complete and submit the special Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool request form (pdf) according to the form's instructions.
Donate Shared Leave to an Individual
- Employees meet the eligibility requirements outlined above who wish to donate leave to a specific employee, download and complete the shared leave donation form (pdf), and;
- Submit the form to their supervisor for completion and forwarding to the Human Resources Operations Office that serves your unit.
- Once the donation has been approved by the unit's Human Resources Operations Office, the donating employee, the supervisor, and the unit's timekeeper will receive written approval of the donation.
Donate Leave to the Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool
Download and complete and submit the special Uniformed Services Shared Leave Pool shared leave donation form (pdf) according to the form's instructions.
Returning to Work Following Leave
Shared leave eligibility ends either when an employee returns to work, a medical condition improves to the point where it no longer qualifies for shared leave or the employee is separated from employment.
If an employees health care provider recommends a gradual return to work, additional shared leave use may be approved according to the situation. Contact the Human Resources Operations Office that serves the employing unit to request approval for use of additional shared leave.
When an employee is able to return to work, the employee will need to take the following steps in order to resume regular work status:
- For leave due to a serious illness, submit a healthcare return to work authorization to the Human Resources Operations Office, including confirmation from the health care provider that the illness or injury is resolved.
- If there are unused hours of shared leave hours remaining, Human Resources will calculate any hours that need to be returned to the donors and notify the department timekeeper(s) of the hours to be reinstated to the donor records.
- The timekeeper will make appropriate adjustments to employee work/leave records and payroll.
Upon completion of the steps above, the shared leave eligibility period has ended. If there is a reason to again request shared leave the employee will have to a new request to receive shared leave.
Unused shared leave hours will be returned to the donors on a prorated basis. If personal holiday hours are returned, they may only be used or re-donated in the calendar year accrued.
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