AN ACT
Relating to shared leave; amending RCW 41.04.665 and 41.04.660; and creating a
new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE
OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
41.04.665 and 1990 c 23 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) An
agency head may permit an employee to receive leave under this section if:
(a)
The employee suffers from, or has a relative or household member suffering
from, an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition which is
of an extraordinary or severe nature and which has caused, or is likely to
cause, the employee to:
(i) Go
on leave without pay status; or
(ii)
Terminate state employment;
(b)
The employee's absence and the use of shared leave are justified;
(c)
The employee has depleted or will shortly deplete his or her annual leave and
sick leave reserves;
(d)
The employee has abided by agency rules regarding sick leave use; and
(e)
The employee has diligently pursued and been found to be ineligible for benefits
under chapter 51.32 RCW.
(2)
The agency head shall determine the amount of leave, if any, which an employee
may receive under this section. However, an employee shall not receive a total
of more than two hundred sixty-one days of leave.
(3) An
employee may transfer annual leave, sick leave, and his or her personal
holiday, as follows:
(a)
An employee who has an accrued annual leave balance of more than ten days may
request that the head of the agency for which the employee works transfer a
specified amount of annual leave to another employee authorized to receive
leave under subsection (1) of this section. In no event may the employee
request a transfer of an amount of leave that would result in his or her annual
leave account going below ten days. For purposes of this subsection (3)(a),
annual leave does not accrue if the employee receives compensation in lieu of
accumulating a balance of annual leave.
(b)
An employee may transfer a specified amount of sick leave to an employee
requesting shared leave only when the donating employee retains a minimum of
four hundred eighty hours of sick leave after the transfer. In no event may
such an employee request a transfer of more than six days of sick leave during
any twelve-month period.
(c)
An employee may transfer all or part of his or her personal holiday, as that
term is defined under RCW 1.16.050, under the provisions of this section
relating to the transfer of leave.
(4) An
employee of ((a community college)) an institution of higher
education under RCW 28B.10.016, school district, or educational service
district who does not accrue annual leave but does accrue sick leave and who
has an accrued sick leave balance of more than sixty days may request that the
head of the agency for which the employee works transfer a specified amount of
sick leave to another employee authorized to receive leave under subsection (1)
of this section. In no event may such an employee request a transfer of more
than six days of sick leave during any twelve month period, or request a
transfer that would result in his or her sick leave account going below sixty
days. Transfers of sick leave under this subsection are limited to transfers
from employees who do not accrue annual leave. Under this subsection,
"sick leave" also includes leave accrued pursuant to RCW
28A.400.300(2) or 28A.310.240(1) with compensation for illness, injury, and
emergencies.
(5)
Transfers of leave made by an agency head under subsections (3) and (4) of this
section shall not exceed the requested amount.
(6)
Leave transferred under this section may be transferred from employees of one
agency to an employee of the same agency or, with the approval of the heads of
both agencies, to an employee of another state agency. However, leave
transferred to or from employees of school districts or educational service
districts is limited to transfers to or from employees within the same
employing district.
(7)
While an employee is on leave transferred under this section, he or she shall
continue to be classified as a state employee and shall receive the same
treatment in respect to salary, wages, and employee benefits as the employee
would normally receive if using accrued annual leave or sick leave.
(a)
All salary and wage payments made to employees while on leave transferred under
this section shall be made by the agency employing the person receiving the
leave. The value of leave transferred shall be based upon the ((annual))
leave value of the person receiving the leave.
(b) In
the case of leave transferred by an employee of one agency to an employee of
another agency, the agencies involved shall arrange for the transfer of funds
and credit for the appropriate value of leave.
(i)
Pursuant to rules adopted by the office of financial management, funds shall
not be transferred under this section if the transfer would violate any
constitutional or statutory restrictions on the funds being transferred.
(ii)
The office of financial management may adjust the appropriation authority of an
agency receiving funds under this section only if and to the extent that the
agency's existing appropriation authority would prevent it from expending the
funds received.
(iii)
Where any questions arise in the transfer of funds or the adjustment of
appropriation authority, the director of financial management shall determine
the appropriate transfer or adjustment.
(8)
Leave transferred under this section shall not be used in any calculation to
determine an agency's allocation of full time equivalent staff positions.
(9)
The value of any leave transferred under this section which remains unused
shall be returned at its original value to the employee or employees who
transferred the leave when the agency head finds that the leave is no longer
needed or will not be needed at a future time in connection with the illness or
injury for which the leave was transferred. To the extent administratively
feasible, the value of unused leave which was transferred by more than one
employee shall be returned on a pro rata basis.
(10)
An employee who uses leave that is transferred to him or her under this section
may not be required to repay the value of the leave that he or she used.
Sec.
2. RCW
41.04.660 and 1990 c 23 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
The
Washington state leave sharing program is hereby created. The purpose of the
program is to permit state employees, at no significantly increased cost to the
state of providing annual ((or)) leave, sick leave, or
personal holidays, to come to the aid of a fellow state employee who is
suffering from or has a relative or household member suffering from an
extraordinary or severe illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental
condition which has caused or is likely to cause the employee to take leave
without pay or terminate his or her employment.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The
legislative budget committee shall prepare a study of leave transfer and submit
the report to the legislature on or before December 1, 1997.
