The shared leave program permits state employees to provide annual leave, sick leave, or personal holidays to fellow employees experiencing certain circumstances that may otherwise cause them to take leave without pay or terminate their employment.  Employees must first use all of certain types of leave before using shared leave.  Covered employees include those employed by school districts and educational service districts.  Within certain parameters, agency heads determine the amount of leave, if any, an employee may receive.

Agency heads may permit an employee to receive shared leave in specified circumstances, including when the employee:

• suffers from an extraordinary or severe illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition;
• has been called to service in the uniformed services;
• is a current member of the uniformed services or a veteran and is receiving service-connected medical appointments or treatments;
• volunteers to assist a government agency or humanitarian relief effort in response to a state of emergency in the United States;
• is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or
• needs to take time for parental leave, or for a pregnancy-related illness or disability.

The Office of Financial Management and the Superintendent of Public Instruction administer rules that implement the shared leave program.

Shared leave is permitted for an employee who lives in an area affected by an emergency or disaster.

"Emergency or disaster" is defined to mean any set of circumstances that:

• demands immediate action to preserve public health, protect life, protect public property, or to provide relief to any stricken community overtaken by such occurrences; or
• reaches such a dimension or degree of destructiveness to warrant the proclaiming a state of emergency by the Governor.