OFFICE OF

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

An employee may be eligible to receive shared leave if the agency head or higher education institution president has determined the employee meets the following criteria:

(1) The employee:

(a) Suffers from, or has a relative or household member suffering from, an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition which is of an extraordinary or severe nature;

(b) The employee has been called to service in the uniformed services;

(c) A state of emergency has been declared anywhere within the United States by the federal or any state government and the employee has the needed skills to assist in responding to the emergency or its aftermath and volunteers their services to either a governmental agency or to a nonprofit organization engaged in humanitarian relief in the devastated area, and the governmental agency or nonprofit organization accepts the employee's offer of volunteer services; ((or))

(d) The employee is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking as defined in RCW 41.04.655;

(f) The employee is a spouse of a current member of the uniformed services or a veteran as defined under RCW 41.04.005, who is attending medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability and requires assistance while attending appointments or treatments.

(2) The illness, injury, impairment, condition, call to service, emergency volunteer service, consequence of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or is likely to cause, the employee to:

(a) Go on leave without pay status; or

(b) Terminate state employment.

(3) The employee's absence and the use of shared leave are justified.

(4) The employee has depleted or will shortly deplete their:

(a) Compensatory time, recognition leave as described in WAC 357-31-565, personal holiday, accrued vacation leave, and accrued sick leave if the employee qualifies under subsection (1)(a) of this section; or

(b) Compensatory time, recognition leave as described in WAC 357-31-565, personal holiday, accrued vacation leave, and paid military leave allowed under RCW 38.40.060 if the employee qualifies under subsection (1)(b) of this section; or

(c) Compensatory time, recognition leave as described in WAC 357-31-565, personal holiday, and accrued vacation leave if the employee qualifies under (1)(c) of this section.

(5) The employee has abided by employer rules regarding:

(a) Sick leave use if the employee qualifies under subsection (1)(a) of this section; or

(b) Military leave if the employee qualifies under subsection (1)(b) of this section.

(6) If the illness or injury is work-related and the employee has diligently pursued and been found to be ineligible for benefits under chapter 51.32 RCW if the employee qualifies under subsection (1)(a) of this section.

An employer must approve a ((new)) shared leave request for an employee:

(1) If a shared leave account is closed and an employee later has a need to use shared leave due to the same condition listed in the closed account; or

(2) To allow employees that are veterans as defined under RCW 41.04.005, and employees that are spouses of veterans who are required to provide assistance for their spouses to attend medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability, to access shared leave from the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool.

The veterans' in-state service shared leave pool was created to allow general government and higher education employees to voluntarily donate their leave to be used for:

(1) An employee who is a veteran as defined in RCW 41.04.005 to attend medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability; or

(2) An employee who is a spouse of a veteran as defined in RCW 41.04.005 that requires assistance while attending medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability.

The department of veterans' affairs shall administer the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool.

The following definitions apply to the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool:

(1) "Employee" means any employee who is entitled to accrue sick leave or vacation leave and for whom accurate leave records are maintained. This does not include employees of school districts and educational service districts or those employees called to service in the uniformed services.

(2) "Monthly salary" means the monthly salary and special pay and shift differential, or the monthly equivalent for hourly employees. Monthly salary does not include overtime pay, callback pay, standby pay or performance bonuses.

(3) "Service in the uniformed services" means the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, full-time national guard duty including state-ordered active duty, and a period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of the person to perform any such duty.

(4) "Uniformed services" means the armed forces, the army national guard, and the air national guard of any state, territory, commonwealth, possession, or district when engaged in active duty for training, inactive duty training, full-time national guard duty, or state active duty, the commissioned corps of the public health service, the coast guard, and any other category of persons designated by the president of the United States in time of war or national emergency.

(5) "Veteran" has the meaning provided in RCW 41.04.005.

Each employer must have a written policy which at a minimum must address:

(1) Eligibility requirements for use of the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool;

(2) Donation of leave;

(3) Use of pool leave; and

(4) Abuse of pool.

Participation in the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool, must at all times, be voluntary on the part of the donating and receiving employee.

Employees are eligible to request leave from the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool if:

(1) The employee is a veteran and is attending medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability; or

(2) The employee is a spouse of a veteran who requires assistance while attending medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability.

An employee using shared leave under the veterans' in-state services shared leave pool receives the same treatment in respect to salary, wages, and employee benefits as the employee would normally receive if using accrued vacation leave or sick leave.

Shared leave received under the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool is not included in the five hundred twenty-two day total specified in RCW 41.04.665.

Leave donated under this section is "pooled" and is withdrawn from the pool by eligible employees according to priorities established by the department of veterans' affairs. Leave donated cannot be directed to a specific individual. All employees who donate must specify their intent to donate to the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool.

An employee may donate vacation leave, sick leave, or all or part of a personal holiday for purposes of the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool under the following conditions:

(1) Vacation leave: The donating employee's employer approves the employee's request to donate a specified amount of vacation leave to the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool and the full-time employee's request to donate leave will not cause their vacation leave balance to fall below eighty hours after the transfer. For part-time employees, requirements for vacation leave balances are prorated.

(2) Sick leave: The donating employee's employer approves the employee's request to donate a specified amount of sick leave to the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool and the employee's request to donate leave will not cause their sick leave balance to fall below one hundred seventy-six hours after the transfer.

(3) Personal holiday: The donating employee's employer approves the employee's request to donate all or part of their personal holiday to an employee authorized to receive leave under the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool.

Shared leave paid under this section, in combination with an employee's salary will not exceed the level of the employee's state monthly salary as defined in WAC 357-31-760(2).

Employees seeking shared leave under the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool must provide a veterans affairs benefits summary letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and a copy of "DD Form 214" verifying that:

(1) The employee has a service connected injury or disability; or

(2) The employee is a spouse of a veteran who requires assistance while attending medical appointments or treatments for a service connected injury or disability.

The receiving employee is paid their regular rate of pay.

The veterans' in-state service shared leave pool cannot grant more leave than the leave balance available at the time a request is received by the department of veterans' affairs.

Except in the event of a violation of rule or statute, an employer is required to permit an eligible employee to receive leave from the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool.

An employer may limit the amount of leave an employee may donate under this section, if authorization of such donation would be in violation of rule or statute.

Employers and/or the department of veterans' affairs shall investigate any alleged abuse of the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool and on a finding of wrongdoing the employee may be required to repay all of the shared leave received from the veterans' in-state service shared leave pool. The only time an employee will have to repay leave credits is when there is a finding of wrongdoing.