Shared Leave

PTAA Shared Sick Leave Donations

The PTAA Shared Sick Leave committee is asking for donations of one (1) day of accrued sick leave to be placed into the Shared Sick Leave pool. A list of contributors will be maintained, and the authorizations will be submitted to HR as needed. The authorizations are only submitted to the Office of Human Resources when a request has been granted by the PTAA-HR Committee to fulfill the requested number of days. This ensures that there will not be a balance in the pool at the end of the year. At the beginning of the year and throughout the year we will ask for new authorizations for contributions. You will be informed if we intend to use your donated sick day.

2024 Shared Sick Leave Donation Form

PTAA/AFSCME recognizes its responsibility to distribute the shared sick leave pool in a fair and equitable manner in accordance with the provisions of the current contract between the Board of Trustees and the Union; therefore, the following procedures and guidelines are established by the Union.

A. The Committee

  1. A shared PTAA Shared Sick Leave Committee (PTAA SSL Committee) shall be appointed by the Union President and approved by the Executive Board. It shall consist of five (5) Union members, of which no more than two (2) shall be from the Local’s Executive board.
  2. Committee members shall serve for a period of two years. The President shall appoint, and the Executive Board shall approve appointments as necessary to fill vacancies that may occur.
  3. A new committee shall be appointed each January in even number years.

B. Membership Eligibility

Members who must be absent from work due to the following may request sick leave from the pool due to a catastrophic illness or injury that is not work-related. They shall not be concurrently covered by disability insurance.

In order to be eligible for shared sick leave, the member shall have:

  1. Exhausted all accumulated leave (sick, vacation, personal),
  2. Must have borrowed two weeks of sick leave in accordance with Article 15.1.8 of the PTAA collective bargaining agreement, and
  3. Must present medical documentation of a catastrophic illness or injury that is not work-related.

C. Procedure

  1. The PTAA SSL committee shall establish and administer the procedures for the donation of sick leave by members to the shared sick leave pool. The shared sick leave pool shall be established in January of each year and be for the internal use of the Shared Sick Leave Committee only. Records are kept in the Union Office and must be accessible to the PTAA SSL committee at all times.
  2. A member who wants to utilize sick leave from the shared sick leave pool shall make a written request to the Union President, who shall make said request known to the PTAA SSL committee and Human Resources. The details of the request shall be handled in a manner that is confidential and that is responsible, prudent, and consistent with this policy.
  3. The PTAA SSL committee will make a reasonable effort to meet within five (5) working days and, in any event, shall meet within ten (10) working days to consider the request.
  4. All requests to draw upon the sick leave pool must be accompanied by a physician’s statement or by a statement from a professional in an appropriate health related profession. The statement shall confirm the illness and certify inability to perform assigned work.
  5. The PTAA SSL committee shall consider all relevant information that is provided voluntarily by the requesting member and support the member’s case. Relevant information includes: the member’s statement of need; medical and/or psychological reports; letters from physicians and persons in allied health science areas, and any other information which the member of the Union considers relevant to the request.
  6. After the contractual PTAA-HR committee has approved member’s request for shared sick leave, the PTAA SSL committee shall then release shared sick leave up to 6 months. If a member does not use all of the days granted from the pool, the unused sick leave shall be returned to the pool.
  7. The PTAA SSL committee shall provide 2 of its members to represent the Union at the PTAA-HR committee. The committee members who are representing the Union shall consider all information presented at the meeting with HR and represent the member to the best of their abilities.