[Added 4-11-2005 by Ord. No. 2005-06 (970)]
A Borough employee shall be eligible to receive donated sick or vacation leave if the employee:
A. 
Has:
(1) 
Completed at least one year of continuous municipal service;
(2) 
Exhausted all accrued sick, vacation and administrative leave, all sick leave injury benefits, if any, and all compensatory time off;
(3) 
Not, in the two-year period immediately preceding the employee's need for donated leave, been disciplined for chronic or excessive absenteeism, chronic or excessive lateness or abuse of leave; and
B. 
Either:
(1) 
Suffers from a catastrophic health condition or injury;
(2) 
Is needed to provide care to a member of the employee's immediate family who is suffering from a catastrophic health condition or injury; or
(3) 
Requires absence from work due to the donation of an organ (which shall include, for example, the donation of bone marrow).
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CATASTROPHIC HEALTH CONDITION OR INJURY
A. 
With respect to an employee, a catastrophic health condition or injury is a life-threatening condition or combination of conditions or a period of disability required by his or her mental or physical health or the health of the employee's fetus and requiring the care of a physician who provides a medical verification of the need for the employee's absence from work for 60 or more workdays.
B. 
With respect to an employee's immediate family member, a catastrophic health condition or injury is a life-threatening condition or combination of conditions or a period of disability required by his or her mental or physical health and requiring the care of a physician who provides medical verification of the need for the family member's care by the employee for 60 or more workdays.
The procedure for obtaining approval for the donated leave program shall be as follows:
A. 
A Borough employee may request that the governing body approve his or her participation in the program, as a leave recipient or leave donor. The employee's supervisor may make such a request, on behalf of the employee, for his or her participation in the program as a leave recipient. The employee or supervisor requesting the employee's acceptance as a leave recipient shall submit medical verification from a physician or other licensed health care provider concerning the nature and anticipated duration of the disability resulting from either the catastrophic health condition or injury, or the donation of an organ, as the case may be.
B. 
When the governing body has approved an employee as a leave recipient, the governing body shall, with the employee's consent, post or circulate the employee's name, along with those of other eligible employees, in a conspicuous manner to encourage the donation of leave time, and shall provide notice to all negotiations representatives. If the employee is unable to consent to this posting or circulation, the employee's family may consent on his or her behalf.
A. 
Leave recipients. A leave recipient must receive at least five sick days or vacation days or a combination thereof from one or more leave donors to participate in the donated leave program. A leave recipient shall receive no more than 180 sick days or vacation days, and shall not receive any such days on a retroactive basis. A leave recipient shall continue to accrue sick leave and vacation leave and be entitled to retain such leave upon his or her return to work. Upon retirement, the leave recipient shall not be granted supplemental compensation for any unused sick days which he or she had received through the leave donation program.
B. 
Leave donors. A leave donor shall donate only whole sick days or whole vacation days and may not donate more than 10 such days to any one recipient. A leave donor shall have remaining at least 20 days of accrued sick leave if donating sick leave and at least 12 days of accrued vacation leave if donating vacation leave. A leave donor shall not revoke the leave donation. Any unused, donated leave shall be returned to the leave donors on a prorated basis upon the leave recipient's return to work, except that if the proration of leave days results in less that one day per donor to be returned, that leave time shall not be returned.
Employees are prohibited from threatening or coercing or attempting to threaten or coerce another employee for the purpose of interfering with rights involving donating, receiving or using donated leave time. Such prohibited acts shall include, but not be limited to, promising to confer or conferring a benefit such as an appointment or promotion or making a threat to engage in or engaging in an act of retaliation against an employee. Violation of this prohibition may subject the violating employee to disciplinary action.