National Weather Service Employees Organization

NWSEO Members in Need of Medical Leave Donations
You Can Help with the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program

(June 4, 2012) NWSEO Members have always been generous with annual leave donations for co-workers in need. This is a tremendous gift to those who may soon exhaust or who have exhausted their leave due to medical issues.NWSEO member Dessa Emch works in the NWS office in Oxnard, CA. She has exhausted all of her leave after her son was involved in a near-fatal accident. Her son remains in critical condition with an unknown release date from the hospital. Dessa has applied for and is approved for leave transfer donations.

Also, Debbie Winston in Cheyenne, Wyoming is on medical leave and in need of leave donations for a medical condition. Please see item number 2 below to learn how to transfer annual leave to specific recipients.

Here are a few facts about donated medical leave and the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program that you might find beneficial if you are considering donating leave or if you are in need of donated leave time:

1. OPM regulates that only annual leave may be donated. You cannot donate sick leave.
2. Leave donors can specify a member of the Leave Donor Program whom they’d like to receive their donated leave time by completing form complete form OPM-630A. http://www.opm.gov/FORMS/PDF_FILL/opm630a.pdf
3. Any leave that is not used is returned back to the donor.
4. A person does not have to wait until their leave is exhausted before applying to be a recipient of the Leave Transfer Program. They must present medical documentation showing they anticipate that they will be on unpaid status for at least 24 hours.
5. Before a person can accept any donated leave, they must complete the required paperwork, have it processed, and receive notification that they are accepted as a recipient of the Leave Transfer Program. It can take two weeks to process the paperwork, so applicants should apply as soon as they realize the condition is expected to exhaust their leave.
6. Department of Commerce leave rules come straight from OPM. There are no agency specific rules.

If you are able to donate leave time, please complete the Donor Leave Transfer Application and submit it to your ASA. If you would like to learn more about the Leave Transfer Program, including a full list of participants, http://www.wfm.noaa.gov/policies/leavedonor_info.html.

If you know of an NWSEO member in need of a medical leave donation and would like us to inform members on the NWSEO.org website, please have them contact NWSEO at mediarelations@nwseo.org.
NWSEO thanks you for your generosity and care!