(a) An officer or employee of this State, with the approval of his or her immediate supervisor or the Director of the Division in which he or she is employed, may donate accrued sick leave and annual leave in equal amounts to a Leave Bank established by the Secretary for all officers or employees of this State or to another officer or employee of this State.

(1) An officer or employee of the State may donate up to 1/2 their yearly accrual of sick leave per year without having to match with annual leave. Nothing in this subsection, however, shall prohibit an officer or employee of the State who donates up to 1/2 of their yearly accrual of sick leave from donating annual leave up to their available balance as of the date of donation.

(2) An officer or employee of the State may donate additional amounts of sick leave in excess of 1/2 their yearly sick leave accrual per year, however, such donations must be matched on a ratio of 2 hours sick leave per 1 hour annual leave.

(b) A person wishing to donate leave time under this section may request the Secretary to debit the donor’s sick leave and annual leave accounts.

(c) Sick leave and annual leave accrued in the Leave Bank or directly donated to an employee may be used by a recipient for either of the following:

(1) A catastrophic illness of the recipient or of a family member of the recipient. — For purposes of this section, the term “catastrophic illness” means an illness or injury to an employee or to a member of an employee’s family which is diagnosed by a physician and certified by the physician as rendering the employee or a member of the employee’s family unable to work, or in the case of a family member who does not work, the medical equivalent of “unable to work,” for a period greater than 5 calendar weeks. Separate periods of disability lasting 7 calendar days or more each, resulting from the same or a related medical condition and occurring within any 12-consecutive-month period, shall be considered the same period of disability. For purposes of this section, “family member” or “member of an employee’s family” means an employee’s spouse, son, daughter or parent who resides with the employee and who requires the personal attendance of the employee during the family member’s catastrophic illness.

(2) Parental leave. — An employee otherwise eligible to receive donated leave under subsection (e) of this section shall become eligible to receive up to 12 weeks of donated leave upon the birth of a child of the employee or the employee’s spouse, or upon the adoption by the employee of a child who is 6 years of age or younger. Such eligibility shall expire at the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of such birth or adoption. Subject to the 12-week maximum, donated leave may be used by the recipient for subsequent absence for a period of 1 year following the birth or adoption for maternal or pediatric medical care requiring hospitalization or extended care at home.

(d) The Secretary shall convert the donated leave into cash value at the donor’s rate of pay, shall re-convert the cash value to hours of leave at the recipient’s rate of pay, and shall then credit the recipient’s account.

(e) Before receiving donated leave time under this section, the recipient of the leave time shall:

(1) Have been an officer or employee of this State for at least 6 months before he or she is eligible for donated leave time;

(2) Have used all of his or her sick days and 1/2 of his or her annual leave; however, when the donated leave time is for the catastrophic illness of a family member, the employee must have used all of his or her sick days and annual leave; and

(3) Have established medical justification for such receipt, which must be renewed every 30 days for leave in connection with a catastrophic illness.

(f) An employee who is covered by a collective bargaining agreement may donate leave to, or receive donations of leave from, an employee or officer who is not covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

(g) The Secretary shall have the authority to carry out the mandates of this section.

(h) The agency employing the recipient of a grant of donated leave shall pay all cost of the use of that donated leave. No funds shall be attached to any hours of donated leave.

(i) The State’s liability under this program shall not exceed the number of hours donated by employees.

(j) The provisions of this section related to a direct donation of hours from one officer or employee of this State to another officer or employee shall become effective February 2, 1996. The provisions of this section related to donation of hours to the Leave Bank shall become effective upon the establishment of the Bank or May 2, 1996, whichever occurs first.

(k) The leave described in this section is intended to run concurrently with any leave available under the Family Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. 2601, et seq.

70 Del. Laws, c. 306, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 72 Del. Laws, c. 395, § 42; 72 Del. Laws, c. 440, §§ 6-9; 75 Del. Laws, c. 88, § 20(6); 81 Del. Laws, c. 66, § 55; 81 Del. Laws, c. 188, § 1; 81 Del. Laws, c. 187, § 2.