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UCLA Campus Catastrophic Leave Program

I. Introduction

The UCLA Campus Catastrophic Leave Program (“Program”) provides temporary salary and benefits continuation to eligible employees who have exhausted or are nearing exhaustion of their applicable paid leave accruals and are experiencing one of the following qualifying catastrophic circumstances:

  • The employee’s catastrophic illness or injury;
  • Care of a catastrophically ill or injured family member;
  • Death of a family or household member; or
  • A catastrophic loss resulting from a terrorist attack, fire, or natural disaster, including severe damage to or destruction of the employee’s primary residence.

The Program allows employees to donate accrued vacation leave to assist eligible employees who lack sufficient paid leave accruals. Participation is voluntary, and donations are anonymous unless the Donor elects otherwise.

II.  Definitions

  • Catastrophic Casualty Loss: A situation in which an 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.
  • Catastrophic Illness or Injury: A non-industrial illness or injury that is physically debilitating or life-threatening and requires the employee to be absent from work.
  • Donor: An employee who donates accrued vacation leave hours to an eligible employee or to the Central Bank. Donors and Recipients may be from the same or different departments.
  • 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 corresponding blood relatives. Individuals who raised the employee in place of their biological parents, and children whom the employee is raising but who are not their biological children, are also included.
  • Paid Leave Accruals: Vacation, sick leave (applicable to illness-related Catastrophic Leave requests), compensatory time off (CTO), and blood donation paid administrative leave. Only accrued vacation hours may be donated under the Program.
  • Recipient: An employee who is eligible to accrue and use vacation leave, has exhausted or is nearing exhaustion of applicable paid leave accruals, and requires temporary salary and benefits continuation.

III.  Eligibility

Campus staff employees in positions eligible to accrue and use vacation leave may participate in the Program, subject to the requirements below and applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Librarians (LX) are eligible to participate in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement. Eligibility for employees in other academic bargaining units is subject to review and confirmation by CHR Labor Relations.

A. Donor Eligibility

To participate as a Donor, an employee must:

  • Be an eligible employee of a UCLA campus department.
  • Have sufficient accrued vacation leave to cover the donation. Vacation leave may not be donated before it is accrued.
  • Donate a minimum of eight vacation leave hours, with additional hours donated in whole-hour increments. Donations of fewer than eight hours are permitted only when the Recipient is eligible to receive fewer than eight hours. Generally, donations may not exceed 50% of the Donor’s accrued vacation leave balance.

Donations are transferred on an hour-for-hour basis, regardless of differences in the Donor’s and Recipient’s rates of pay.

B. Recipient Eligibility

To participate as a Recipient, an employee must:

  • Be an eligible employee of a UCLA campus department.
  • Have exhausted, or be nearing exhaustion of, all applicable paid leave accruals.*
  • Require an absence from work due to a qualifying catastrophic circumstance described in Sections I and II.
  • Not be receiving disability benefits or workers' compensation payments, as employees receiving Catastrophic Leave are considered to be on active pay status. Catastrophic Leave hours received may be applied toward the employee-paid disability waiting period.

*For an employee requesting Catastrophic Leave due to the catastrophic illness or injury of a family or household member, or the death of a family or household member, all sick leave must be exhausted, even if this exceeds the limits on sick leave use for family illness or bereavement under applicable personnel policies and collective bargaining agreements.

Receipt of Catastrophic Leave hours is contingent upon the availability of donated vacation leave hours, either through designated donations for medical emergencies or from the Central Bank. Eligible employees may receive up to 80 hours of Catastrophic Leave from the Central Bank in a twelve-month period.

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

IV.  Process

A. Recipient Application Process

  1. Employee Application: An employee requesting Catastrophic Leave hours must submit a completed Catastrophic Leave Application to their department head or HR representative. The leave must be for a specified period. The employee must provide appropriate verification of illness or injury from a licensed healthcare provider, or documentation supporting a catastrophic casualty loss, to their department. If the Recipient is incapacitated, a department representative, family member, or household member may submit the application on their behalf.
  2. Departmental Review: The department must verify that the Recipient meets the Program's eligibility requirements, including exhaustion or anticipated exhaustion of applicable paid leave accruals, and determine the number of hours needed for the requested leave period. The department head must approve leave for a specified period. Open-ended approvals are not permitted. If a department elects to solicit donations from employees, it is responsible for determining and coordinating the solicitation process.
  3. CHR Approval: The department must submit the signed Catastrophic Leave Application and applicable Donor Form(s) to CHR Staff Personnel Policy for approval.
  4. UCPath Processing: The department must ensure that only the hours needed for the approved leave period are credited to the Recipient and that the hours are used within that period.

B. Donor Process: Donations to an Eligible Recipient

  1. Employees who wish to donate accrued vacation leave hours to support an eligible Recipient experiencing a medical emergency may submit a completed Catastrophic Leave Donor Form to their department head or HR representative. Once the Donor signs the form authorizing the deduction from their vacation leave balance, the donation is irrevocable unless the designated Recipient becomes ineligible to receive it. Any donated hours unused by the Recipient must be returned to the Donor unless the Donor consents in writing to transferring those hours to the Central Bank.
  2. The department is responsible for verifying that donations meet the Program's eligibility requirements and processing adjustments to the Donor's and Recipient's leave balances in UCPath.

C. Donor Process: Donations to the Central Bank

  1. Employees who wish to donate accrued vacation leave hours to the Central Bank, administered by CHR Staff Personnel Policy, may submit a completed Catastrophic Leave Donor Form to their department head or HR representative.
  2. The department is responsible for processing the adjustment to the Donor's vacation leave balance in UCPath using the Description of Service (DOS) code VLC and forwarding the completed Donor Form to CHR Staff Personnel Policy.

For questions, please contact your CHR Policy Analyst.

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