Shared Leave The purpose of the leave sharing program is to permit state employees, at no significantly increased cost to the State, of providing leave to come to the aid of another state employee who has been called to service in the uniformed services, who is responding to a state of emergency anywhere within the United States declared by the federal or state government, who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or 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. For purposes of the leave sharing program, the following definitions apply:
Educational Incentive Program 15.2.1 A regular monthly classified unit member covered by this Agreement shall be granted a one-step increase (up to a step maximum of step G for Office/Technical unit members) on the first (1st) of the month following verification of satisfactory completion (grade of “C” or above) of twelve (12) semester units of credit from an accredited institution. Courses must have been enrolled in and credits must have been earned subsequent to the unit member's employment with the District. Official transcripts verifying a grade of “C” or above will be considered proof of satisfactory completion, in addition to the Educational Incentive Program Request for Salary Advancement Form, shall be provided by the eligible unit member and forwarded to the Office of Human Resources. Units of credit obtained prior to promotion must be applied toward step movement within sixty (60) calendar days of effective promotion date. The unit member shall ensure that the Compensation department is aware of these additional credits within this sixty (60) day period.
Catastrophic Leave Program Leave credits, as defined below, may be transferred from one or more employees to another employee, on an hour-for-hour basis, in accordance with departmental policies upon the request of both the receiving employee and the transferring employee and upon approval of the employee's appointing authority, under the following conditions:
SICK LEAVE PROGRAM An employee may be eligible to receive donations of paid leave to be included in the employee's sick leave balance if s/he has suffered a catastrophic illness or injury which prevents the employee from being able to work or from being able to work his/her regularly scheduled number of hours. Catastrophic illness or injury is defined as a critical medical condition considered to be terminal, or a long-term major physical impairment or disability.
RETIREMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM A. A Retirement Incentive Program will be provided by the District based upon the conditions stipulated below:
Shared Leave Use A. The Employer will determine the amount of leave, if any, which an employee may receive. However, an employee will not receive more than five hundred twenty- two (522) days of shared leave during their entire duration of state employment, except that, the Employer may authorize shared leave in excess of five hundred twenty-two (522) days in extraordinary circumstances for an employee qualifying for the shared leave program because he or she is suffering from an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that is of an extraordinary nature.
Shared Leave Administration A. The calculation of the recipient’s leave value will be in accordance with applicable Office of Financial Management policies, regulations, and procedures. The leave received will be coded as shared leave and be maintained separately from all other leave balances. All paid leave accrued must be used prior to using shared leave when the employee qualifies for shared leave under 13.2 A.1. Accrued vacation leave and paid military leave allowed under RCW 38.40.060 must be used prior to using shared leave for employees qualified under 13.2 A.2. All paid leave, except sick leave, must be used prior to using shared leave when the employee qualifies for shared leave under 13.2 A.3 and 13.2 A.4.
Dependent Care Assistance Program The County offers the option of enrolling in a Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) designed to qualify for tax savings under Section 129 of the Internal Revenue Code, but such savings are not guaranteed. The program allows employees to set aside up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) of annual salary (before taxes) per calendar year to pay for eligible dependent care (child and elder care) expenses. Any unused balance is forfeited and cannot be recovered by the employee.
Leave of Absence for Union Functions a) Upon request to the Employer, an Employee elected or appointed to represent the Union at conventions shall be allowed leave of absence with pay and benefits.
State Employee Group Insurance Program (SEGIP) During the life of this Agreement, the Employer agrees to offer a Group Insurance Program that includes health, dental, life, and disability coverages equivalent to existing coverages, subject to the provisions of this Article. All insurance eligible employees will be provided with a Summary Plan Description (SPD) called “Your Employee Benefits”. Such SPD shall be provided no less than biennially and prior to the beginning of the insurance year. New insurance eligible employees shall receive a SPD within thirty (30) days of their date of eligibility.