Argonne has a vacation donation program that allows eligible employees to donate their vacation to a bank. Vacation time saved to this bank can be used by another employee who is in a prolonged absence without pay due to a serious medical condition, or who must take care of a seriously ill family member.
Employees can donate up to 40 hours in increments of four hours of their accrued vacation each calendar year. Employees on an extended unpaid sick leave status can request up to a maximum of six weeks from the bank.
This program is useful only when there are enough “funds” in the bank to fulfill the needs of those who request it. If you are getting close to the maximum of your vacation accrual, instead of forfeiting the accrual, consider donating it to the vacation bank. It is very much appreciated by other employees in need.
In the past six months, vacation time equivalent to approximately $11,500 was generously donated by employees, but several requests to use time from the vacation donation bank for serious, prolonged medical conditions have almost depleted the account. We still have a small balance in our bank, but without additional donations, we may have to turn down future requests.
The form to donate vacation is ANL-889.
Employees who are not eligible for the vacation donation program include union employees (unless it is addressed in their collective bargaining agreement) and employees not eligible to accrue vacation or sick leave pay.