{"269721":{"#nid":"269721","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Program Provides Employees Donated Leave","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen you are dealing with a serious illness, the last thing you want to worry about is your paycheck. This is the situation that one Georgia Tech employee of almost 10 years (who wished to remain anonymous) found himself in.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDue to family issues, the employee\u2019s vacation and sick leave hours were running low. Then, he was diagnosed with an unexpected medical condition that caused him to be out of the office for almost a month.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s prudent for us to have vacation and sick leave in reserve for an emergency,\u201d the employee said. \u201cYet, despite all our planning, life just happens. This program retroactively donated the hours I wasn\u2019t able to cover with my vacation and sick leave, and I was able to receive a full paycheck the following month. I\u2019m so grateful this program exists.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETech\u2019s Donated Sick Leave Program was implemented in 2010 to ensure that employees experiencing a life-threatening or emergency illness don\u2019t have to take a leave of absence without pay. (Note that if an employee has short- or long-term disability, he or she can\u2019t replace it with donated sick leave.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEmployees who wish to donate unused sick leave to the program are able to do so during the annual open enrollment period. A maximum of 80 hours can be donated by one employee.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince the program started, 49 employees have benefited, and a total of 21,849 hours have been donated. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe program is open to benefits-eligible employees who have worked at Tech for at least 12 months and are in good standing with the Institute. Once an employee applies, the Leave Coordinator in the Office of Human Resources verifies eligibility, and sick and vacation balances. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf the employee qualifies, the request is submitted to the Donated Sick Leave Committee, which approves or denies it based on the medical certification and prognosis.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about the program, click \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/1aaIsd0\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen you are dealing with a serious illness, the last thing you want to worry about is your paycheck. This is the situation that one Georgia Tech employee of almost 10 years (who wished to remain anonymous) found himself in.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"When you are dealing with a serious illness, the last thing you want to worry about is your paycheck."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2014-01-21 12:34:32","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:44","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-01-21T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-01-21T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"269531":{"id":"269531","type":"image","title":"Donated Sick Leave Program","body":null,"created":"1449244077","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:47:57","changed":"1475894959","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:19","alt":"Donated Sick Leave Program","file":{"fid":"198602","name":"imsick.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/imsick_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/imsick_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":2028906,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/imsick_0.jpg?itok=xA6q_wPT"}}},"media_ids":["269531"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/1aaIsd0","title":"Donated Sick Leave Program"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"84421","name":"Donated Sick Leave Program"},{"id":"8122","name":"Office of Human Resources"},{"id":"8726","name":"OHR"},{"id":"171320","name":"sick leave"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:nicole.stephens@ohr.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ENicole Stephens\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOffice of Human Resources\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}