1006 A2 Paid Leave

There must be a disaster within Georgia or a neighboring state with a reciprocal agreement that has been declared by the President or a State Governor.

The American Red Cross must request the employees’ services.

Employees are to submit written requests for disaster volunteer leave along with supporting documentation to their supervisor. Requests will be reviewed and either approved or denied on a case-by-case basis.

Disaster volunteer leave may be granted for up to fifteen (15) workdays (not to exceed 120 work hours) in a twelve (12) month period.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Reservists are eligible for up to eighteen (18) workdays (144 work hours) of military leave.

All temporary employees;

All hourly employees; and

Active, salaried, non-temporary employees who are rehired retirees of the Employee’s Retirement System of Georgia.

Paid leave cannot exceed fifteen (15) workdays (not to exceed 120 work hours) in a twelve (12) month period;

Paid disaster volunteer leave is not charged against accrued leave;

The employee will be compensated at the rate of pay for the regularly scheduled hours the employee is absent from work.

For purposes of this policy, “organ” means a human organ, including an eye, that can be transferred from the body of one person to the body of another.

Employees requesting leave to donate an organ must submit medical documentation to their designated FML Specialist or authorized official (e.g., designated Human Resources Representative). This statement must certify that the employee is donating an organ for transplantation.

If the organ donation does not take place, any absence will be charged to accrued annual leave, personal leave, compensatory time (as applicable) or leave without pay.

Employees requesting leave to donate bone marrow must submit medical documentation to their designated FML Specialist. This statement must certify that the employee is donating bone marrow for transplantation.

If the bone marrow donation does not take place, any absence will be charged to accrued leave, personal leave, compensatory time (as applicable) or leave without pay.

Employees must request and receive prior approval from their supervisors to be away from the work area for blood donation. Supervisors may schedule the time to be used for this purpose based on the needs of the organization.

Time away from work is for the purpose of donating blood, platelets, or granulocytes and to recover from the donation. Employees who do not use the time allowed, as specified below, at the time of each donation, do not accrue any right to utilize the leave or payment at any other time.

Employees who donate blood, platelets or granulocytes on non-work time are not to receive paid time off from work due to the donation.

Salaried employees are eligible for holiday pay.

The following employees are ineligible for holiday pay.

To be eligible for pay on a State holiday, an employee must be in pay status for the full scheduled work shift on either the workday immediately before or immediately after the holiday. “Pay status” means either working or taking approved paid time off.

Employees are not paid for a holiday that occurs the day before they enter or reenter State service.

Employees are not paid for a holiday that occurs the day after they leave State employment.

Employees are not paid for a holiday that occurs on their last day of State employment unless the holiday is at the end of their normal workweek.

Employees eligible for a paid holiday receive pay for the time they would otherwise have worked that day, up to a maximum of eight (8) hours.

Employees on alternative work schedules can make up the additional time by:

Equivalent time off or deferred holiday time will be made available to employees who would otherwise have been eligible for a paid holiday but were either required to work on part or for the entire holiday. This excludes part-time employees whose scheduled day off occurred on a holiday are not given equivalent time off or additional compensation for the holiday.

Equivalent time off to observe the holiday will not exceed the time actually worked on the holiday or eight (8) hours, whichever is less.

Employees may be required to use deferred holiday time before using annual, sick, personal leave, or compensatory time (as applicable).

Employees who are unable to take equivalent time off within 365 calendar days after a holiday will be paid for the holiday.

Employees who separate from DHS will be paid for any deferred holiday time not used or paid out prior to separation.

Employees will not be paid for a holiday in advance of the observance of the holiday.

An employee scheduled to work on a holiday who, without prior approval, fails to report for any portion of the scheduled duty will not be granted deferred holiday time for the time (if any) that was worked on the holiday. Such employee may be subject to leave without pay for the scheduled time not worked and/or other appropriate disciplinary measures.

An employee may request priority consideration for time off from work to observe a religious holiday that is not observed as a State holiday.

The request should be made at least seven (7) calendar days in advance.

An employee may request priority consideration for up to three (3) workdays in each calendar year.

A request by an employee for time off for religious observance cannot be denied unless:

An employee who is summoned to perform jury duty or to serve as a witness during scheduled work time and needs to be absent from work is expected to provide a copy of the summons, subpoena, or other court order to their supervisor when requesting leave.

Since employees typically will not know in advance how much time will be required to fulfill their court obligation, employees may be required to update their supervisor at reasonable intervals concerning the time needed for absence from duty.

Paid court leave is granted to non-temporary salaried employees for the purpose of attending a judicial proceeding in response to a subpoena, summons for jury duty, or other court order or process which requires the attendance of the employee during scheduled work hours. Such paid time off is not charged to an employee’s accrued leave.

The following employees are not eligible for paid court leave:

Eligible employees will receive paid court leave while on jury duty for the time they are otherwise scheduled to work. Employees will be paid only for the time they are required to appear by the court, plus any additional time that is reasonably necessary, in the opinion of the Department, for the employee to prepare for or return from jury duty.

Employees will not receive any compensation for time spent serving as a juror that exceeds the employee’s regular work schedule.

Employees may keep any juror fees and travel allowances they receive from the court.

An employee summoned to appear as a witness or required by a court to attend a proceeding will typically be paid in the same manner as an employee serving on a jury. However, an employee will not receive paid court leave to attend a trial, arbitration hearing, or other judicial proceeding in which they are:

Employees are required to report back to work as soon as they are released from jury duty or other court ordered appearance if the release occurs before the end of the scheduled workday. Management may require verification from the court showing the time served. Failure to return timely from court leave is treated as an unexcused absence.

Employees who are required to appear in court on behalf of the Department are in work status. No leave or leave without pay will be charged.

Employees who are summoned to appear in court on a State observed holiday or on a scheduled day off, are not entitled to additional time off.

Eligibility is no longer limited to those employees who do not have two hours before or after work to vote. However, no employee may be granted more than two (2) hours of paid voting leave. An employee may have to use both paid voting leave and appropriate accrued leave or compensatory time to cover the requested absence.

Paid voting leave is available to non-temporary salaried employees.

Active, salaried, non-temporary employees who are rehired retirees of the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia are not eligible for voting leave while receiving retirement annuity payments during the first 1,040 hours of work performed in the calendar year.

Employees are responsible for requesting and obtaining approval from their supervisor in advance of taking time off to vote and should schedule the time off in a manner that minimally disrupts normal Department operations.

Some jurisdictions open polls for early in-person voting. Paid voting leave is available on early voting days as well as on Election Day. Because polling hours are typically shorter during early voting, an employee who wishes to vote early may need to request more than two hours of leave. However, no employee may be granted more than two hours of paid voting leave. An employee may have to use both paid voting leave and appropriate accrued leave or compensatory time to cover the requested absence.

Any employee wishing to take time off to vote, which may include paid voting leave under SPB Rule 16 (17), should use normal leave request procedures. Divisions/offices may specify the hours during which an employee may take voting leave to ensure minimal disruption of Department operations. To balance support of each employee’s right to vote with the business need to minimize operational interruptions, consider providing written reminders to employees to obtain advance approval to take time off to vote. Divisions/offices are also free to make flexible work schedule arrangements with employees for voting purposes.

All eligibility criteria defined below must be met before an employee can use education support leave.

The following employees are ineligible for education support leave:

Eligibility for paid parental leave is based on one of the following qualifying life events:

To be eligible to use paid parental leave for a qualifying life event, an employee must meet one of the two following criteria:

Rehired retirees of the Employees’ Retirement System of Georgia, whether salaried or hourly, are not eligible for paid parental leave while receiving retirement annuity payments during the first 1,040 hours of work performed in the calendar year.

An eligible employee may take a maximum of 240 hours of paid parental leave in a rolling twelve (12) month period. The rolling period will be measured backward from the first date of leave taken. The amount of leave in a rolling twelve (12) month period cannot exceed 240 hours, regardless of the number of qualifying events that occur during that period and regardless of transfers between employing entities (as defined in O.C.G.A. § 45-20-17(a)(2)(A)). DHS is responsible for conducting due diligence to ensure an employee has not exhausted the 240-hour allotment prior to approval of paid parental leave.

Leave may be taken as needed and in increments of less than eight hours, using the same minimum period the Department has established for other forms of paid leave.