HOUSE BILL REPORT
2SSB 5476
As Reported By House Committee On:
Government Operations
Title: An act relating to shared leave.
Brief Description: Sharing leave and personal holiday time.
Sponsors: Senate Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators Loveland, Winsley, Fraser, Haugen, Kohl, Wood, Drew, Bauer, Pelz, Prentice, Quigley, McAuliffe, Roach, Fairley, Franklin, Prince and Long).
Brief History:
Committee Activity:
Government Operations: 3/28/95, 3/29/95 [DPA].
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
Majority Report: Do pass as amended. Signed by 12 members: Representatives Reams, Chairman; Rust, Ranking Minority Member; Scott, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Chopp; R. Fisher; Honeyford; Hymes; Mulliken; D. Schmidt; Sommers; Van Luven and Wolfe.
Minority Report: Do not pass. Signed by 3 members: Representatives Goldsmith, Vice Chairman; L. Thomas, Vice Chairman; and Hargrove.
Staff: Steve Lundin (786-7127).
Background:
1. Original shared leave program.
The Washington State leave-sharing program was established in 1989 for state employees, including employees of school districts, education service districts, and institutions of higher education.
Under this program, an employee may transfer a portion of his or her accrued annual leave to another employee who either suffers from, or has a relative or household member suffering from, illness, impairment or conditions that are of an extraordinary or severe nature and which either has caused, or is likely to cause, the employee to go on leave without pay status or terminate state employment.
An employee may only transfer annual leave if, after the transfer, the transferring employee retains at least 10 days of annual leave.
The transfer of leave may be made to another employee in the same agency, or with the approval of the heads of both agencies, to an employee of another state agency. Provisions are made for the transfer of moneys between agencies to take cognizance of the transfers. However, transfers of leave to or from an employee of a school district or education service district are only allowed with other employees of the same school district or education service district.
2. 1990 changes.
In 1990, the Washington State shared-leave program was altered so that an employee of a community college, school district, or education service district who does not accrue annual leave may transfer sick leave to another employee under the same conditions that state employees are authorized to transfer accrued annual leave. Such an employee of a community college may transfer sick leave to any state employee who is eligible to receive leave transfers, but an employee of a school district or education service district may only transfer sick leave to another employee of the same school district or education service district.
An employee may only transfer sick leave if, after the transfer, the employee retains at least 60 days of sick leave.
Summary of Amended Bill: An employee who is eligible to transfer accrued unused annual leave under the Washington State shared-leave program, and who has accrued a sick leave balance of more than 60 days, may request that his or her agency head transfer a specified amount of his or her unused sick leave to an employee who is eligible to receive transfers of unused annual leave, but only if that employee, or his or her relative or household member, has a catastrophic illness.
An employee may not request transfer of more than six days of sick leave during any 12 month period or request a transfer that would result in reducing his or her sick leave account below 60 days. Sick leave for school district or education service district employees includes leave that is provided with compensation for illness, injury, or emergencies.
Any state employee, and any employee of a school district or educational service district, who has accrued a personal holiday, may request that the head of his or her agency transfer all or any part of the personal holiday to any employee who is authorized to receive transfers of leave under the shared-leave program.
An employee who uses leave transferred under this program may not be required to repay the value of the leave that is used.
Amended Bill Compared to Second Substitute Bill: The nature of the illness is changed from terminal to catastrophic. The amended bill clarifies that a person who uses the leave does not have to repay the value of the leave that was used.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date of Amended Bill: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Testimony For: This is a humanitarian bill. Cities and towns already do this.
Testimony Against: None
Testified: Senator Loveland, prime sponsor; Lynn McKinnon, Public School Employees; and Bev Hermanson, Washington Federation of School Employees.