Benefits » Time Off »Catastrophic Paid Leave Program
The Catastrophic Paid Leave (CPL) Program, administered by the Laboratory’s Occupational Medicine Division, allows employees to donate accrued vacation time to a CPL “bank” that can be used by other employees in the event of their own or eligible family members’ unanticipated serious illness or injury. To receive a CPL grant, each case has to be reviewed by the Laboratory’s Health Case Management Committee and strict eligibility requirements must be met.
The CPL bank has an urgent and ongoing need for vacation hour donations (see below). Employees wishing to donate vacation hours to the CPL program need to complete the Request to Donate Vacation Hours (Form 1851) (pdf).
Procedure P730-14, Catastrophic Paid Leave (pdf), provides additional CPL information.
While the CPL bank was empty for most of calendar year 2008, in November 2008 the CPL program was reviewed and improved. With the changes to the program, Laboratory employees can now designate a portion of their donated hours to go to a specified individual*. Additional changes to the program lowered the minimum donation to four hours, of which 50% may be designated to a specific individual* (*individuals must still apply, meet qualifications, and be approved by the Health Case Management Team for CPL use). The remaining 50% of donated hours are credited to the CPL bank for allocation through the program.
Since implementation of the CPL program improvements in November 2008 and due to the generous donations of Laboratory employees, the Health Case Management Team has been able to approve all qualified applications and award the requested number of hours. Unfortunately, catastrophic medical situations continue to arise that affect our co-workers and family. In order to continue helping these individuals, ongoing donations to the Catastrophic Paid Leave bank are required. So, if you’re approaching use-it or lose-it with your vacation, consider donating some of those hours to the CPL bank. Your donation may be the critical support need to help a co-worker though a very difficult time.
The following cases are examples of applications which were approved by the HCMT for CPL awards:
Vacation hour donations are accepted in one-hour increments, with a minimum of four hours per donation. Donors may direct up to 50% of their donation to a specific CPL grantee. The remaining percentage of hours will be credited to the CPL bank for employees who may not otherwise receive directed donations. Employees are limited to one donation per month. Sick leave hours cannot be donated. CPL donations are completely anonymous; donors' names will not be released to the recipients.
Employees who would like to apply for a CPL grant must submit a completed Catastrophic Paid Leave: Employee Request (Form 1850) (pdf) to Occupational Medicine for review by the Health Case Management Committee.
The CPL program administers catastrophic paid leave for the following types of emergency situations:
CPL grants cannot be used for bereavement periods or non-medical purposes.
To qualify for a CPL grant, an employee’s absence from work must have been, or is expected to be, at least four consecutive weeks and must have depleted, or will deplete, all vacation and sick accruals during the leave. If eligible for disability benefits, the employee must have submitted an application for disability benefits to the insurance carrier.
All unused CPL hours must be returned to the CPL bank. Misuse of CPL hours is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.