OFFICE OF

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

The foster parent shared leave pool was created to allow state employees to voluntarily donate their leave to be used by any eligible employee who is a licensed foster parent pursuant to RCW 74.15.040 so they may:

(1) Care for a foster child; and/or

(2) Prepare to accept a foster child in their home.

The department of social and health services, in consultation with office of financial management, shall administer the foster parent shared leave pool.

The following definitions apply to the foster parent shared leave pool:

"Caring for" means taking a foster child to health care appointments, court appointments, visitation with family members and/or any other reasons that sick leave may be used for in WAC 357-31-130.

"Employee" means any employee of the state, including employees of school districts and educational service districts, who are entitled to accrue sick leave or vacation leave and for whom accurate leave records are maintained as defined in RCW 41.04.655.

"Monthly salary" means the monthly salary and special pay and shift differential, or the monthly equivalent for hourly employees. Monthly salary does not include overtime pay, callback pay, standby pay or performance bonuses.

"Preparing for" means arranging a foster child's living space, enrolling in school, and/or enrolling in child care.

Each employer must have a written policy regarding the foster parent shared leave pool which at a minimum addresses:

(1) Amount of leave that may be withdrawn from the pool;

(2) Eligibility requirements for use of the pool;

(3) Donation of leave to the pool;

(4) Use of foster parent shared leave; and

(5) Misuse of pool.

Participation in the foster parent shared leave pool must at all times be voluntary on the part of the donating and receiving employee.

Employees who are licensed foster parents pursuant to RCW 74.15.040 are eligible to request shared leave from the foster parent shared leave pool.

An employee using shared leave under the foster parent shared leave pool receives the same treatment in respect to salary, wages, and employee benefits as the employee would normally receive if using accrued vacation leave or sick leave.

The receiving employee's employer may limit the amount of shared leave their eligible employee receives, per occurrence, under the foster parent shared leave pool to care for a foster child.

An eligible employee may receive up to five days of shared leave, per occurrence, from the foster parent shared leave pool to prepare to accept a foster child in their home.

An eligible employee may receive up to five hundred twenty-two days of shared leave under the foster parent shared leave pool during their total state employment.

Shared leave received under the foster parent shared leave pool is separate from and not included in the five hundred twenty-two day total specified in RCW 41.04.665.

Leave donated under this section is donated to the foster parent shared leave pool and cannot be directed to a specific individual. Foster parent shared leave is withdrawn from the pool by eligible employees according to priorities established by the department of social and health services. All employees who donate must specifically direct their leave donation to the foster parent shared leave pool.

An employee may donate vacation leave, sick leave, and all or part of a personal holiday to the foster parent shared leave pool as follows:

(1) Vacation leave: The donating employee's employer approves the employee's request to donate a specified amount of vacation leave to the foster parent shared leave pool. The full-time employee's request to donate leave will not cause their vacation leave balance to fall below eighty hours after the transfer. For part-time employees, requirements for vacation leave balances are prorated.

(2) Sick leave: The donating employee's employer approves the employee's request to donate a specified amount of sick leave to the foster parent shared leave pool. The employee's request to donate leave will not cause their sick leave balance to fall below one hundred seventy-six hours after the transfer.

(3) Personal holiday: The donating employee's employer approves the employee's request to donate all or part of their personal holiday to the foster parent shared leave pool.

Employees who are eligible to receive shared leave from the foster parent shared leave pool must first use all accrued compensatory time, recognition leave as described in WAC 357-31-565, and personal holiday before requesting shared leave from the foster parent shared leave pool. The employee is not required to deplete all of their accrued vacation leave and sick leave and can maintain up to forty hours of vacation leave and forty hours of sick leave.

Shared leave paid under the foster parent shared leave pool must not exceed the level of the employee's state monthly salary as defined in WAC 357-31-845.

Employees seeking shared leave under the foster parent shared leave pool must provide proof of a current foster parent license to their current employer.

Foster parent shared leave may not be granted unless the pool has a sufficient balance to fund the requested shared leave.

An agency head or higher education president may limit the amount of leave an employee may donate to the foster parent shared leave pool.

Employers and/or the department of social and health services must investigate any alleged abuse of the foster parent shared leave pool and on a finding of wrongdoing the employee may be required to repay all of the shared leave received from the foster parent shared leave pool. The only time an employee will have to repay leave credits is when there is a finding of wrongdoing.