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Compassionate Leave Program Recipients

Eligible Administrative (members of URA-AFT); Managerial, Professional, Supervisory, and Confidential (MPSC) employees; and employees who are members of AFSCME Local 888, AFSCME Local 1761, FOP-S, IAFF Local 5082 or HPAE Local #5094 may request the use of donated time through the Compassionate Leave Program. All requests for use of donated leave will be reviewed and approved through the Office of the Senior Vice President for Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness.

Eligibility Conditions

Catastrophic illness is defined as a severe condition or combination of conditions that affects the physical or mental health of you or an eligible family member, requires treatment by a licensed practitioner for a prolonged period, and has resulted in a life threatening condition and/or has a major impact on life functions.

  • Prolonged period of time is defined as 160 continuous hours of missed work by a full-time employee; for part-time employees, a proportionate number of hours based on percent of time worked.
  • Immediate family member is defined as the employee’s spouse, civil union partner, same-sex sole domestic partner, child, parent, and parent-in-law. The family member must require the employee’s direct care.
  • Conditions generally require in-patient, hospice or residential health care, for example, for cancer, major surgery, or heart attack.

University Human Resources may seek the advice of a physician chosen by the university when determining the impact of the illness on you and/or family member.

Requesting Use of Donated Leave

You may request donated leave time after exhausting all of your available paid leave time, including administrative leave and personal holiday days.

  • If you are requesting donated leave time for care of yourself, you must anticipate the exhaustion all of your sick and vacation time. Time may be requested before all leave has been exhausted.
  • If you are requesting donated leave time for the care of a family member, you cannot charge more than five sick leave days per fiscal year.
  • You must request donated leave time for future use. Donated leave time will not be applied retroactively.

To apply, complete a Donated Leave Bank Application for Use and submit it to your supervisor for review and signature.

  • You may be denied donated leave time if there is a documented pattern of abuse of sick time.
  • As a full-time employee you may receive up to 30 donated days per year. For part-time employees, the number of days available will be proportional to your percent of time worked. Any awarded time that is not used before the catastrophic illness situation ceases to exist or the employee retires, terminates, or dies will be returned to the bank.
  • Time awarded will not count towards Sick Time Payout at retirement.

Time awarded to you will run concurrently with New Jersey Family Leave and Federal Family and Medical Leave time and will be charged against any such leave entitlement.

  • An employee must formally request the use of family leave time for the care of an immediate family member as soon as she or he is aware of such need.
  • If you are requesting donated leave time for the care of a same sex sole domestic partner, New Jersey Family Leave and Federal Family and Medical Leave time cannot be requested.

If you are requesting the use of donated leave time for care of yourself, you must use donated leave time before requesting Temporary Disability Insurance, Worker’s Compensation, Long Term Disability, or Disability Retirement. These programs would commence at the cessation of donated leave time.

Using Donated Time

You will continue to accrue paid time off while on leave using donated time. Since you will be placed back in active pay status, the department is charged for your granted Compassionate Leave days. Therefore, the supervisor must approve your request for Compassionate Leave days.