Leave Bank
BGSU has a Leave Bank program that allows both faculty and staff to donate sick leave hours to a collective bank that can be used to aid fellow employees who, due to extreme circumstances, may have depleted their vacation and sick leave. Individuals interested in participating in this program must donate their hours during the annual enrollment period. Please review the Leave Bank Policy and Frequently Asked Questions for additional information.
Annual Donation Period Held Each February
Eligible employees who want to donate hours must meet all of the following criteria.
- Is eligible to accrue sick leave;
- Is employed in a position that is partially or wholly funded through general, University Foundation, or auxiliary funds (not grant-funded); and
- Has a minimum of and will maintain a balance of one hundred twenty hours of accrued paid leave of all types (prorated on the basis of a full time equivalent of seventy-two hours - equal to a FTE) after having donated a minimum of eight sick leave hours to the Bank.
Application to receive benefits
If you have donated into the leave bank program and would like to request to receive benefits, please review the policy and FAQ resources above and complete the following forms:
A program to which eligible employees may donate sick leave or withdraw sick time from as needed should a serious illness or accident leave an employee unable to work. This would keep the affected employee in a paid status after utilizing his/her own leave balances.
All full time and part time classified (including bargaining unit employees) and administrative staff, and full time faculty who are not wholly grant-funded.
It is clearly defined within the policy with multiple points. Please refer to the policy for a full explanation.
A leave bank committee with two representatives from each constituent group (Classified, Administrative and Faculty), a member from HR and a physician will review all requests for withdrawing hours from the leave bank and approve/disapprove request based on criteria. Parameters to guide decisions would include at least the following:
- Satisfies the definition of leave
- Minimum of 500 hours in the Bank
- Arrival date of all paperwork properly completed
An employee will receive a letter as to the committee ruling on the request for donated hours. If approved the hours withdrawn from the leave bank will be placed into their sick leave balance.
The real benefit in this program is in the giving of hours to community members who are suffering a severe illness/injury. No one can predict when we might find ourselves suffering a severe illness/injury
Employees must have donated a minimum of eight (8) hours of sick leave to the Leave Bank in one of the last two years prior to the date of the request to utilize hours from the Bank. Exceptions to withdrawing hours from the bank may be made within the first year of the bank.
Most grants do not allow monies going to individuals not working on the grant.
During the enrollment period, donations must be made in 8 hour increments. The donor must have a remaining balance of 120 hours of sick leave after donation for full time employees and 72 hours of sick leave hours after donation for part time employees.
The enrollment period will be approximately three weeks long and will begin on the first Monday in February each year. Emergency enrollments will be held as needed.
240 hours in any calendar year.
Family members may make the request on behalf of the employee with assistance from the Office of Human Resources.
An emergency enrollment donation period would be conducted.
No, medical records are protected by federal law through HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
All requests to the leave bank committee are anonymous. If the committee requests clarification of any points, the Office of Human Resources will contact the faculty or staff member for additional information.
Through the leave request form. See the leave request form and procedures of the leave bank for further details.
Requests cannot exceed 240 hours in any calendar year. Policy does not stipulate how many times employees can access.
All hours are monitored and tracked through the Human Capital Management System and the Time and Labor system.
Normally, an employee has to donate once in the last two years to be eligible, as well as having 120 hours of sick leave after the donation. The leave bank committee will consider special requests from those new hires not able to donate yet.
If you receive a donation your and BGSU’s contribution will continue to the retirement plan.
Donated hours will be distributed as follows:
- Full-time employees - Donated hours will equal 40 hours a week until hours are exhausted.
- Part-time employees – Donated hours will be based on standard hours per week.
The unused leave hours will automatically be returned to the leave bank.
An employee would need to work with their supervisor and the Office of Human Resources.
The leave bank committee meets as needed to review requests for withdrawal from the bank.
Updated: 03/17/2025 02:31PM