UCLA Campus Catastrophic Leave Program

I. INTRODUCTION

The UCLA Campus Catastrophic Leave Program ("Program") provides temporary salary and benefit continuation for staff employees who accrue vacation and have exhausted applicable paid leave accruals to address a personal disaster such as:

The employee's catastrophic illness or injury
Care of a catastrophically ill or injured family member
Death of a family or household member
A catastrophic loss suffered due to, for example, a terrorist attack, fire, or natural disaster, including severe damage or destruction to an employee's primary residence

The Program allows employees to donate vacation leave to the Campus Central Catastrophic Leave Bank ("Central Bank"), which provides leave to employees who lack sufficient paid leave accruals to address a verifiable catastrophic circumstance. While the Program establishes a mechanism for leave transfers, participation is entirely voluntary. Donations are anonymous unless donors elect otherwise.

II. DEFINITIONS

A. Catastrophic Illness or Injury: a non-industrial illness or injury that is physically debilitating or life-threatening and requires the employee's absence from work when the employee has exhausted all applicable paid leave accruals.

B. Catastrophic Casualty Loss: a situation in which a staff employee cannot report to work due to a natural disaster or emergency, as covered by administrative leave for emergencies in PPSM-2.210: Absence from Work.

C. Family Member: Except for purposes of Family and Medical Leave ("FML"), an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, children (including children of the employee’s domestic partner), parents, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren. Step-relatives, in-laws, and relatives by adoption are included on the same basis as the above-listed blood relatives. Individuals who raised the employee in place of their biological parents are also included. Likewise, a child whom the employee is raising but who is not their biological child is included.

D. Paid Leave Accruals: includes vacation, sick leave (applicable to illness-related Catastrophic Leave requests), compensatory time off (CTO), and blood donation paid administrative leave. Under this Program, only accrued vacation hours may be donated.

E. Recipient: an employee who is eligible to accrue and use vacation, has exhausted applicable paid leave accruals, and requires a temporary extension of salary and benefits.

F. Donor: an employee who donates vacation leave hours to an employee or to the Central Bank.

III. ELIGIBILITY

Campus staff employees who are eligible to accrue and use vacation leave may participate in the Program. Represented employees in the following bargaining units are eligible: CX, DX, EX, HX, LX, NX, PA, RX, SX, TX, and K4. The Program is
non-grievable and is not subject to any arbitration policy applicable to any employee.

Vacation leave may be credited to an employee under the Program if all of the following conditions are met:

The Recipient has submitted a Catastrophic Leave Application and applicable supporting documentation to the department head;
The department head has confirmed that the Recipient is unable to work due to a catastrophic circumstance as described in Sections I and II;
The Recipient has exhausted (or will shortly exhaust) all applicable paid leave accruals;
The Recipient is not receiving disability benefits or workers' compensation payments; and
Vacation leave hours have been donated to the Recipient (in cases of medical emergencies) or are available from the Central Bank.

A. Donor Eligibility

A Donor must:

Be a staff employee of a UCLA department;
Be in a position that accrues vacation leave; and
Have accrued sufficient vacation leave to cover the amount of the donation (leave may not be donated prior to accrual).

B. Recipient Eligibility

A Recipient must:

Be a staff employee of a UCLA department;
Be in a position that accrues vacation leave; and
Have exhausted all applicable paid leave accruals.

Note: An eligible employee may receive vacation leave donations due to a catastrophically ill family or household member and/or death of a family or household member; however, they must first exhaust their sick leave balance, even if doing so exceeds the time limits imposed on sick leave use for family illness and bereavement under applicable personnel policies.

IV. CRITERIA

A. Department Head

The department head (or designee) shall determine the department's process for soliciting donations to the Program. Participation in the Program is strictly voluntary.

B. Recipient

Eligible employees may receive up to 80 hours of Catastrophic Leave from the Central Bank in a twelve-month period, subject to availability.

Employees may not receive any University-paid or employee-paid disability benefits while receiving Catastrophic Leave because the employee is considered to be on active pay status. Donated time may be applied toward the employee-paid disability waiting period.

C. Donor

Each donation must be a minimum of eight hours, with any additional hours donated in whole-hour increments. When the Recipient is eligible to receive fewer than eight hours, donations of less than eight hours may be made. Generally, the maximum that may be donated is 50% of the Donor’s vacation leave balance.

V. DONATION PROCESS

Designated Donation

In the case of a medical emergency, an employee may donate vacation hours to an eligible individual employee by completing a Catastrophic Leave Donor Form and submitting it to their department head.

• The department is responsible for coordinating the solicitation of leave hours.
• The department is responsible for processing adjustments to the Donor’s and Recipient’s leave balances in UCPath.

Undesignated Donation

Employees may donate accrued vacation leave hours to the Central Bank by completing a Donor Form and submitting it to their department head or HR representative.

• The department head authorizes the department timekeeper to reduce the employee's vacation leave balance.
• The donation form is submitted to CHR Staff Personnel Policy.

To receive donated vacation leave hours, an employee must provide appropriate verification of illness or injury from a licensed healthcare provider, or documentation supporting a catastrophic casualty loss due to death, fire, or natural disaster, to their department.

A. The Recipient may initiate the process by submitting a Catastrophic Leave Application to their department head or HR representative. The employee must request, and the department head must approve, leave for a specified period. Approved leaves may not be open-ended.

B. The Recipient’s department will verify that appropriate documentation has been submitted and that the Recipient has exhausted (or will shortly exhaust) all paid leave accruals. The department will also determine the number of hours necessary for the approved catastrophic leave period.

C. A Donor may also initiate the donation process by submitting a Donor Form to their department head or HR representative.

D. The department must submit the signed Recipient Application, and applicable Donor Form(s) to CHR Staff Personnel Policy for review and approval.

VI. TRANSFER OF VACATION LEAVE HOURS

Donations are irrevocable once the Donor signs the form authorizing a deduction from their vacation leave balance, unless the designated Recipient becomes ineligible to receive the donation. The department head or designee will ensure that all donations meet eligibility requirements and will deduct the donated vacation hours from the Donor’s leave balance. The leave balance must be reduced using the Description of Service (DOS) code VLC so that the department does not receive a credit from the financial leave reserve account.

VII. EFFECT ON FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE (FML)

Participation in the Program does not affect a Recipient’s rights under FML. Time paid through this Program will be designated as FML if the employee meets FML eligibility requirements and the leave otherwise qualifies.

VIII. PROGRAM SUMMARY

Program Outline	Provides temporary salary and benefit continuation for eligible staff employees who have exhausted paid leave due to a qualifying catastrophic circumstance.
Eligibility	UCLA staff employees who accrue and may use vacation leave. Donors and Recipients may be from the same or different departments. Employees may donate to, or receive leave from, the Central Bank administered by CHR Staff Personnel Policy.
Eligible Leave Credits	Accrued vacation leave only.
Minimum Donations	Minimum donation of eight (8) hours, in whole-hour increments. Donations of fewer than eight (8) hours are permitted only when the Recipient is eligible to receive fewer than eight (8) hours.
Maximum Donations	Generally limited to 50% of the Donor’s vacation leave balance.
Maximum Receipt of Donations	Up to 80 hours from the Central Bank in a twelve-month period, subject to availability.
Pay Level of Donating or Receiving Employees	Donations are transferred on an hour-for-hour basis, regardless of pay level.
Department Head (or Designee) Responsibilities	Responsible for: Determining eligibility with appropriate verification; Providing appropriate documentation to CHR Staff Personnel Policy; Verifying exhaustion of paid leave accruals; Ensuring that only needed hours are credited and are used within the approved period; and Returning unused hours to the Donor or Central Bank.
Employee Responsibilities*	Responsible for: Obtaining required verification; Submitting a completed Recipient Application with documentation; and Using credited hours within the approved period. *If the Recipient is incapacitated, the application may be submitted by a department representative, family member, or household member.

Campus Human Resources – Staff Personnel Policy
staffpersonnelpolicy@chr.ucla.edu