USC Major Disaster Leave Sharing Plan

1. POLICY

Issued: 01/22/2025
Last Revised: 01/22/2025
Last Reviewed: 01/22/2025

2. Policy Purpose

The purpose of this Major Disaster Leave Sharing Plan (“Major Disaster Plan”) is to facilitate the efforts of University of Southern California (“USC”) employees to assist one another in times of need caused by certain major disasters. The Major Disaster Plan creates a Leave Bank that allows employees to donate unused vacation/PTO that can be used by employees who are absent from work as a result of a major disaster and who have exhausted paid leave available to them.

3. Scope and Application

Eligibility Criteria

  1. Employees must be in a classification that accrues vacation/PTO to be eligible to participate in the Disaster Plan as either a Donor or Recipient.
  2. Employees in classifications that do not accrue vacation/PTO hours are not eligible to participate in the Disaster Plan. Contractors, temporary employees and work-study students are also not eligible to participate in the Disaster Plan.
  3. Employees in grant funded positions may participate, provided their contract permits it and receipt of a Donation does not contradict any requirements of the employee’s funding source and grant conditions.
  4. A Recipient is eligible for a Leave Bank Transfer if (a) a Major Disaster subject to a Major Disaster Declaration has caused severe hardship to the Recipient or a Family Member of the Recipient that requires the employee to be absent from work; (b) the Recipient has exhausted all available vacation/PTO hours; (c) the Recipient has not received more than 150 (160 for employees working 40 hour work weeks) donated hours within a rolling 12-month period under the Major Disaster Declaration; and (d) the Recipient has submitted a Leave Bank Transfer Request Form. 

4. Definitions

The definitions below are applicable for the purposes of this policy.

TermDefinition
Major DisasterA “Major Disaster” is a major disaster as declared by the President of the United States under § 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. § 5170 (“Stafford Act”), that warrants individual assistance or individual and public assistance from the federal government under the Stafford Act.
Major Disaster DeclarationA “Major Disaster Declaration” is a notice issued by USC’s President or designee following a Presidentially declared Major Disaster to implement this Major Disaster Plan for a specific Major Disaster.
Family MemberA “Family Member” includes a child, including an adopted or step-child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registered domestic partner
DonorA “Donor” is a current USC employee who donates accrued but unused vacation/PTO to the Disaster Leave Bank.
RecipientA “Recipient” is a current USC employee who has been adversely affected by a Major Disaster and requests leave from the Disaster Leave Bank.
Leave BankThe “Leave Bank” is the account maintained and managed by the Human Resources Department, or a separate Disaster Leave Bank Committee if established by a Major Disaster Declaration, into which donations of leave are made and from which donations of leave can be made.
DonationA “Donation” is an irrevocable transfer of accrued but unused vacation/ PTO from a Leave Donor to the Leave Bank.  Disaster Donations may not be made to a specific employee.
Leave Bank TransferA “Leave Bank Transfer” is a transfer of leave from the Leave Bank to a Leave Recipient.

5. Policy Details

Disaster Donation Criteria

  1. All Donations are strictly voluntary.
  2. Donors who work full-time may only make Donations in full day increments based on their regular hours per day (e.g., 7.5 hours or 8 hours). Donors who work less than full-time may make Donations in four-hour increments.
  3. Donations are limited to 50 percent of a Donor’s existing accrued but unused vacation/PTO at the time of Donation, provided that the Leave Donor cannot make a Donation that exceeds the amount of leave the Donor would accrue during the calendar year.
  4. All donations of leave from one USC employee to another must occur via the Leave Bank and using the procedures established by this Policy, Human Resources, and/or the Disaster Leave Bank Committee. No transfers or donations or leave are otherwise permitted. When using the Leave Bank, Donations may not be earmarked for a specific recipient.
  5. Except as set forth in this Major Disaster Plan, any Donation by a Donor to the Leave Bank is irrevocable and Donor shall have no right to such donated time, but any Donation shall not make a Donor ineligible to request a Leave Bank Transfer as a Recipient should the Donor meet all other eligibility requirements.
  6. Recipients may not convert Leave Bank Donations received under the plan into cash in lieu of using the leave.

Disaster Leave Bank Transfer Process

  1. A Recipient must submit a Disaster Leave Bank Transfer Form to Human Resources or Disaster Leave Bank Committee if USC establishes one.
  2. A Recipient who is an exempt employee may request a maximum of 40 hours per application pursuant to the Major Disaster Declaration.
  3. A Recipient who is a non-exempt employee may request no more than the Recipient’s regularly scheduled workweek prior to the Major Disaster, excluding overtime, and capped at 40 hours per application pursuant to the Major Disaster Declaration.
  4. Eligibility is determined by the Human Resources, or the Disaster Leave Bank Committee if USC establishes one. Requests will be reviewed in the order they are received and granted, ,in whole or part, based on the amount of available time in the Disaster Leave Bank and other pending requests.  If there are no hours in the Leave Bank, the request will be placed in pending status for 60 days. If there are no hours available at the end of the 60-day period, the request will be closed. The employee may reapply for further consideration. If there are multiple requests in pending status and leave hours become available, payment will be based on the order of approval and the available leave hours.
  5. The Recipient’s regularly scheduled workweek prior to the Major Disaster will be considered when determining the amount awarded to the Recipient. A Recipient may not receive more than 160 donated hours within a rolling 12-month period under the same Major Disaster Declaration. 
  6. Any approved Leave Bank Transfer will be paid to Recipient at the Recipient’s base rate of pay at the time the Leave Bank Transfer Form is submitted with the next regular pay period after approval. Any approved Leave Bank Transfer shall only be used for absences from work necessitated by the Major Disaster.
  7. A Recipient may not convert any Leave Bank Transfer received under this Plan into cash in lieu of using the leave. However, a Recipient may use leave received under this Plan to eliminate a negative leave balance that was advanced by USC to the Recipient because of the effects of the Major Disaster.

Tax Treatment

  1. A Recipient of any Leave Bank Transfer shall be taxed on the Donation as taxable wages and the Recipient shall be responsible for all applicable taxes on such wages.
  2. Donors will not be taxed on their Donation to the Leave Bank. A donor may not claim an expense, charitable contribution, or loss deduction on account of the Donation or its use by a Recipient.

Major Disaster Declaration Termination

  1. A Major Disaster Declaration shall terminate 30 days after the end date of the Major Disaster as specified in any notice issued by FEMA.
  2. Except for an amount so small as to make accounting for it unreasonable or administratively impracticable, any hours on deposit in the Leave Bank for a Major Disaster Declaration that have not been approved for a Disaster Leave Bank Transfer before the Major Disaster Declaration terminates, USC will return to the Donors any unused leave in the same proportion as the amount of leave donated by the Donor bears to the total amount of leave donated on account of that Major Disaster declaration within 60 days.

Miscellaneous

  1. The forms to donate and request Disaster Leave Bank benefits are an Appendix of this policy and may be modified from time to time, at the sole discretion of USC, and as specific to each Major Disaster occurrence.
  2. USC reserves the right to amend or terminate this Major Disaster Leave Sharing Plan at any time without advance notice.
  3. If an employee is found to misrepresent facts such that the program is used fraudulently, disciplinary action will be taken, up to and including termination.
  4. Nothing in this Major Disaster Leave Sharing Plan is intended to create any right to employment or benefits, nor alter the at-will nature of employment or alter any contract of employment.
  5. It is the intent of this Plan to comply with all IRS guidance regarding leave sharing plans, including but not limited to IRS Notice 2006-59. If any part of this Disaster Plan is found to be improper, it shall be struck from the Disaster Plan and remainder of the Disaster Plan remain in effect if doing so will make the Disaster Plan compliant with existing law.

6. Procedures

N/A

7. Forms

N/A

8. Responsibilities

Below is the list of the units or individuals who are responsible for aspects of the policy and their major responsibilities.

9. Related Information

Major Disaster Declaration for the California Wildfire and Straight-line Winds, Including the “California Hurst Fire”, “California Eaton Fire” and “California Palisades Fire

Major Disaster Declaration for COVID-19 Pandemic

10. Contacts

Please direct any questions regarding this policy to:

OFFICEPHONEEMAIL
HR Service Center(213) 821-8100uschr@usc.edu