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Personnel Policy Guidance for Haiti Earthquake Relief

DEANS, DIRECTORS, DEPARTMENT CHAIRS, and ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS 

Re: Personnel Policy Guidance for Haiti Earthquake Relief

In response to the tragic consequences of the earthquake in Haiti and our concerns about employees who may be affected by or responding to the disaster, we are issuing guidelines on options that are available to departments and employees in the event that leave and/or other support services are required.

Leave Policies

Administrative leave with pay is available during natural disasters or other emergencies under Section E of Staff Personnel Policy 46 related to Administrative Leave. In consultation with Campus Human Resources, Organization Heads may approve administrative leave with pay to address situations where employees are affected or are responding to disasters. With regard to the Haiti Earthquake, administrative leave with pay may be provided for:

  • Employees who are members of UC-sponsored response teams sent to assist with the relief efforts based on their special skills and training, such as nurses, search and rescue personnel, hydraulics experts, and others with expertise in disaster relief work. (Employees involved with University-sponsored relief efforts are covered by the University’s workers’ compensation insurance as long as an employee’s supervisor approves the employee’s participation in the emergency relief activity.)
  • Employees who are involved with official relief efforts sponsored by agencies such as FEMA, the Red Cross and other sanctioned organizations, subject to prior approval of their supervisor.
  • Employees who were traveling in the area at the time of the disaster and became stranded.

As relief efforts will be ongoing for some time, the amount of paid leave that is granted is wholly dependent upon the particular circumstances of each employee, taking into account the type of relief work being performed and the department’s operational considerations.

For employees who wish to participate in Haiti relief efforts with agencies that have requested assistance, prior approval from management and the central Human Resource Office (contact information below) must be obtained before granting administrative leave with pay.

When administrative leave with pay is not appropriate, departments have the discretion to allow employees to use their accrued vacation, compensatory time off, leave without pay or other applicable policies. Examples are noted below:

  • Employees who on their own initiative wish to volunteer to assist with relief work.  In instances of employee-initiated relief efforts, these employees should be made aware of their potential liability when they are on leave without pay.
  • For employees who need to assist or care for family and friends directly affected by the disaster, applicable policies or collective bargaining agreements govern the use of sick leave, vacation leave, personal leave, and family and medical leave.

Emergency Vacation Leave Sharing Program (EVLSP)

The Emergency Vacation Leave Sharing Program (EVLSP) is available to provide assistance to employees who are affected by the disaster and/or wish to participate in the relief efforts but do not have sufficient paid leave to cover absences. The program allows an employee to donate accrued vacation credits to another employee when the recipient employee does not have sufficient vacation balances or other paid leave credits, and is:

  • needed to assist family or friends who have been directly affected by the earthquake in Haiti; or
  • participating in disaster relief work but is not eligible for administrative leave with pay or leave of absence with pay under existing policies.

The UCLA campus guidelines for the Catastrophic Leave Sharing Program will be applied in determining the methods for donating and tracking vacation credits. Supervisors and managers need to submit employee requests to the appropriate offices, i.e. Campus Human Resources, Health System Human Resources, or Academic Personnel (see contact information below). The EVLSP Donor Form and the Recipient Application Request are available in Related Information.

Application of the ELVSP to exclusively represented employees is subject to union notice.

If you or your staff have questions regarding the Emergency Leave Sharing Program, please contact Manager Lazetta Smith in Campus Human Resources at (310) 794-0877, Director Maure Gardner in Health System Human Resources at (310) 794-0500, or Assistant Director Esther Hamil in Academic Personnel Office at (310) 206-8004.

Sincerely,

Lubbe Levin                                                             Thomas Rice
Associate Vice Chancellor                                   Vice Chancellor
Campus Human Resources                                  Academic Personnel

 

 

Campus Human Resources, Personnel Services
Phone: (310) 794-3147 | Fax: (310) 794-0865