Announcing Vacation Leave Bank

Dear University of Denver Employees,

We are pleased to announce a new, voluntary leave-sharing benefit for DU employees that was initiated by the Staff Advisory Council (SAC) and has been in development for quite some time. Especially now, we hope this new program will encourage us to support one another in a new way, while also alleviating stress for those who may, now or in the future, need more paid time off than they have accrued. It is one of the ways we will be able to keep employees’ paychecks whole for the months of May and June.

Leave-sharing programs are increasingly popular around the country. We have researched best practices and legal guidelines to ensure that DU’s program is easy to use and that access to it is equitable. The program has the full support of SAC, Human Resources and Inclusive Community and the Offices of the Provost and the Chancellor.

DU's program began on May 1 and is open to all benefitted staff. (With the exception of a few faculty, mostly in the library, faculty are not eligible to donate or draw from this program because they do not accrue vacation time in the same way as benefitted staff.) Note that union employees have a separate contract and have worked directly with facilities leadership on their pay and benefit plans.

At this time, DU has two separate leave banks. When contributing leave time, employees must specify which bank they want to support.

The major-disaster leave bank is for use only when a major disaster—such as the coronavirus—is designated by the federal government to warrant individual assistance or individual and public assistance under the Stafford Act. Time in this leave bank can be accessed by employees who have been “adversely affected” by the disaster, such as if the disaster has caused severe hardship to the employee or to an employee’s family member, requiring the employee to be absent from work. Leave donated to this bank will carry over from one fiscal year to the next; however, once a major disaster no longer meets federal Stafford Act guidelines, any remaining time in this bank will be returned to the employees who donated the time.

The catastrophic illness/injury leave bank is for use when an employee experiences “an acute or prolonged illness that is considered life-threatening or with the threat of serious residual disability of the staff member or an immediate family member.” Family members include the child (biological, adoptive, step, foster, or in loco parentis), spouse/domestic partner or parent of the staff member (biological, adoptive, step, foster or in loco parentis). Time donated to this bank will remain in the bank until it is used by employees who need it.

Many more details will be available online soon, but for now, our aim is to let employees know that contributions are voluntary; and will be very much appreciated. For questions about how to donate or request leave, please contact Shared Services. 

Sincerely,

Jerron Lowe, Interim Vice Chancellor, Human Resources
Garret Glass, President, Staff Advisory Council