Laboratory employees now have an occasion to give other employees the security of paid time off from work in the event of a personal catastrophe.
The giving opportunity comes in the form of the Laboratory's new Catastrophic Paid Leave (CPL) Program. The program allows Laboratory employees to donate up to one half of their unused vacation time to a "bank" for use by other employees who don't have leave time available and are suddenly faced with a truly catastrophic situation, typically life-threatening, that forces them to be off work for an extended period. Only vacation time can be donated.
The CPL program comes at an especially critical time for employees who may be at the "use it or lose it" point with their vacation accrual. It might be preferable for those individuals to donate that time, rather than lose it, said Donna Leshne of Occupational Medicine (HSR-2).
The program is available to all University of California Laboratory employees who accrue vacation and sick time. Catastrophic Paid Leave requests can be made for any sudden illnesses or accident for the employee or employee's family member, but cannot be used for noncatastrophic events like scheduled surgeries or pregnancy leaves. It also cannot be used to extend a bereavement period. The employee who requests Catastrophic Paid Leave can receive a maximum of 160 hours per calendar year, but the amount an employee will receive depends upon the total amount available in the "bank" and the number of other requests pending in the program at the time, said Leshne.
Employees can donate up to 80 hours of vacation time per calendar year. Donations are accepted in eight-hour increments. Employees who donate time and later wish to donate more, may do so again the following month. To donate time, follow the directions on Laboratory Form 1851 - Catastrophic Paid Leave: Request to Donate Vacation Leave and send it to the address listed on the form.
Any employee in need of donated leave can apply by competing and returning Laboratory Form 1850 - Catastrophic Paid Leave: Employee Request, along with either Form 1852 - Catastrophic Paid Leave: Certification of Physician or Practitioner on Eligible Family Member's Health Condition or, if the employee is the individual who is ill, Form 1853 - Catastrophic Paid Leave: Certification of Physician or Practitioner on Employee's Health Condition. The completed forms will then be considered, in the order they are received, by the Laboratory's Health Case Management Committee. This committee will then approve or deny the request and, if necessary, allocate any available leave. Employees do not have to have donated to the "bank" in the past to receive Catastrophic Paid Leave, said Leshne
The CPL Program is the result of planning by a number of employees over many years. The original idea for the program started several years back, but only recently came to full fruition, said Deanne Phillips, also of HSR-2. The goal was to create a "bridge mechanism" between the time when the employee exhausts all of his/her sick and vacation leave and the start of a disability benefit as the result of a catastrophic event. Employees who have a family member with a medical issue are limited by Laboratory Policy AM 313.37 (Sick Leave-Family Illness) to using no more than 240 hours per calendar year of their sick leave for family illness purposes. If the family member's medical issue fits the criteria of a catastrophic illness, then the employee can request the CPL program allow him/her to use in excess of the 240 hour limit of sick leave. In this situation, the employee does not receive any grant of hours but instead, receives permission to use more than the policy-allowed amount of sick leave to care for the family member.
The Los Alamos CPL program works like other similar programs in that employees donate to a general account and the leave is then dispersed anonymously to the necessary individuals on a first come, first served basis. Leave cannot be designated for any particular individual. This aspect of anonymity ensures fairness and eliminates concerns of favoritism or coercion, said Phillips.
Both donation and request forms are available at http://enterprise.lanl.gov/catastrophic.htm online.
The CPL program is managed by HSR-2, with Leshne as the official point of contact. Employees can donate time by contacting Carolyn Drymiotis of Accounting (CFO-1) at 7-4594 or by writing to drymiotis_carolyn@lanl.gov by electronic mail.
According to Leshne, this initiative is important for the Laboratory work force because in times of crisis - personal, institutional or otherwise - Lab workers need each other's support. "As a catastrophic illness can strike anyone at anytime, it is imperative that we all be prepared. The Laboratory and the University of California have taken the first step by providing the mechanism, but it is up to Laboratory employees to make the CPL program work by contributing," said Leshne.
