THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1999

Program provides extra sick leave

By Ingela Ringbjer

On-Line Forty-Niner

When Mitra Nejat's illness was getting worse last year, she was concerned she would face financial trouble because she had no choice but to stay home from work.

Five months later, Nejat is not only happy that she has recovered from a series of intestinal disorders, but she is also thankful to the Leave Donation Program for saving her financially.

The program, which used to be called the Catastrophic Leave Program, provides leave credits to staff and faculty who have exhausted all their sick leave or vacation credits due to an extended illness.

"It allows other staff and faculty members to donate time so they don't have to go without pay for a long period of time," said Thomas Angell, director of Staff Personnel Services.

In December of last year, when Nejat, a Campus Mail Services coordinator, learned that her illness would prevent her from working, she soon ran out of the three weeks of sick leave she had.

It was thanks to other campus staff and faculty members' generosity that she could miss work and still not lose income.

"This program helped me a lot through the time I was sick," Nejat said. "Thanks to this program I didn't suffer any financial loss and that was really great."

In 1991, California State University Employee Relations negotiated with all CSU unions and came up with the Leave Donation Program. According to the policy, the nature of the illness or injury must be catastrophic, as stated by the previous name of the program.

The reasons for staff and faculty requesting sick leave vary from such illnesses as cancer and AIDS, to a broken leg or an operation, Angell said.

"Sometimes it's life threatening and other times it has been short-time illnesses," he said.

The employee needs to provide a doctor's verification stating the severity of the illness and how much time off is needed.

The program allows each employee to donate up to 16 hours of leave credits per fiscal year, and the donation is irrevocable, Angell said.

Staff normally receive only 8 hours per month, or 96 hours per year. About 10 people a year request donations.

When an employee asks for leave donations, Angell puts together a formal letter that is sent out to all staff and faculty members on campus. Employees who wish to donate hours have to complete the form and return it to the office of the vice president for Administration and Finance.

At that office, Coleen Followell, assistant to the directors of Internal Audit Services, handles the donation process once the letters have gone out, and she then submits the information to Payroll and Benefits Services, which handles the rest.

To maintain confidentiality, the number of employees donating sick leave, and who they are, cannot be released, Followell said.

"We have a lot of staff and faculty who are willing to donate their time," Angell said. "People are very generous when they want to donate, and many want to donate more than they are allowed."

Nejat said her illness made her take time off from work three separate times.

She was never told who the people were who donated their hours.

"It was really nice of them to help me out, and I would like to thank them," she said.

Under the program, family illnesses can be used as reason to request leave credit.

If family members get sick and need daily care, the employee can use the program to stay home and care for them, Angell said.

"A lot of people who have had long-term illnesses probably wouldn't have had paychecks, [if not] for the leave donation program," he said. "It's been very successful."

Since March, Nejat said she has been back working in mail services and is now feeling much better.