Base civilians can donate leave through Fed. program

  • Published
  • By Paula J. Mackenzie
  • Civilian Personnel Division director
The Employee and Labor Relations Branch of the Civilian Personnel Office, which administers the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program for Hanscom, reports that since January 2007, 10 Hanscom employees have benefited from annual leave donated by fellow civilian employees. 

To date, 50 employees have donated a total of 1,123 hours of their annual leave through this program. Some employees are "repeat donors," said Lesa Stewart, Employee Relations section chief. 

To be eligible to receive annual leave donations, an employee must be experiencing either a personal or family medical emergency that will cause the employee to be without available paid leave for at least 24 hours. In order to receive approval for the leave, the leave recipient must submit medical documentation describing the condition, the prognosis and estimated date of return to work. Many medical emergencies are caused by serious accidents, long-term serious illnesses or emergency surgeries that require an extended convalescence period. A similar medical situation of a family member may also qualify the employee to receive annual leave donations. While donations may not always be adequate to cover the entire absence, they do help recipients to remain in a paid leave status while experiencing medical emergencies, Ms. Stewart said. 

If an employee returns to work prior to using all the donated hours, the donated leave is returned to the original donors on a prorated basis. 

Supervisors or employees who have questions about the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program can contact the Employee and Labor Relations Branch at (781) 377- 3194 or (781) 377-5524.