Compassionate Transfer of Leave

Compassionate transfer of leave may be available to help you if you are unable to work for an extended period and you exhaust all your available paid time off. You must be unable to work due to either a catastrophic personal illness or injury or the need to care for a member of your established household who has a catastrophic illness or injury. If you meet the eligibility criteria below, you may receive up to 480 hours (12 weeks at full time) of continued pay from vacation hours that other employees have forfeited due to excess accruals.

Donating Hours

All hours removed from University employees’ balances during the vacation forfeiture process in January are automatically made available for compassionate transfer of leave, unless an employee requests otherwise. If you do not wish your forfeited hours to be used for compassionate transfer of leave, complete the Request to Forfeit Vacation Hours form and submit it to Human Resources

Employees may not make direct transfers of vacation hours to other employees.

Eligibility

You must meet all of these eligibility criteria in order to receive compassionate transfer of leave hours:

  • Your (or your family member’s) condition is expected to last 45 consecutive calendar days or more and is confirmed in writing by a physician.
  • For your own illness, you are unable to perform the job duties of your position or any available light duty work. For a family member’s illness, you may receive intermittent compassionate transfer of leave to take time off to care for your loved one.
  • You have been employed in a benefits-eligible position for at least 12 continuous months prior to requesting compassionate transfer of leave.
  • You are eligible to accrue vacation time.
  • You have exhausted all forms of paid leave, including sick time, vacation time, and compensatory time.
  • You are not receiving either workers' compensation or long-term disability benefits. (You may be in the waiting period to qualify for these benefits.)
  • If you are enrolled in one of the short-term disability insurance plans offered to University employees, you must have applied for these benefits. If your short-term disability claim is approved, you may receive compassionate transfer of leave contributions to supplement the disability payments up to your regular rate of pay. If you do not have short-term disability coverage, you are in the waiting period for benefits to begin, or if your claim is denied, you may receive compassionate transfer of leave at your full FTE.

Note: For employees in grant-funded positions, there may be restrictions on using grant dollars for compassionate transfer of leave. Please consult with Sponsored Projects at sponsor@email.arizona.edu or 520-626-6000.

Procedure

Initiate the request for compassionate transfer of leave as soon as you know that you will be unable to work for 45 days, and that you do not have sufficient paid time to cover your absence.

  • Ask your physician for a written statement confirming a catastrophic illness or injury and its anticipated duration.
  • Complete the Compassionate Transfer of Leave Request form and submit a copy of both the request form and physician's statement to your departmental human resources representative or business manager.
  • Your departmental representative completes the Processing Information section of the Compassionate Transfer of Leave Request form and forwards all completed forms and the physician's statement to Human Resources Leave Management Team. Forms should be forwarded to the Leave Management Team before the employee's other paid leave is exhausted.

Dashboard for Tracking CTL Hours: Your department HR or business manager can track available Compassionate Transfer of Leave hours.

  • Go to UA Analytics > Employee > Time and Labor > Weekly Reported Time tab.
  • Remove the Fiscal Year filter
  • Look for these TRC codes:

           CHE/CHP – CTL holiday​
           FCHE/FCHP – CTL holiday FML
           CSE/CSP – CTL​
           FCSE/FCSP – CTL FML
           CHE/CHP – CTL holiday

What Happens to Your Benefits?

  • This leave has no impact on your benefits.
  • If you exhaust all compassionate transfer of leave hours and must transition to unpaid leave, contact Human Resources to arrange for payment of the employee portion of your benefits premiums.

Forms

Links to policies

Eligibility

No. the ABOR Compassionate Transfer of Leave policy specifies that only employees who accrue vacation time are eligible to receive CTL.

A licensed physician or health-care provider must document that the condition is expected to last 45 consecutive calendar days. It is not necessary to wait until 45 days have passed before requesting or receiving CTL.

You may not receive CTL for your own illness or injury if you are able to work on a reduced schedule or intermittently.

But you may receive CTL if you take intermittent time off or work a reduced schedule in order to care for a family member with a catastrophic condition.

Yes, you may still be eligible for CTL even if you are not eligible for Family and Medical Leave (FML). Contact a leave advisor in the Division of Human Resources.

No, there is no penalty. The qualification for CTL is based on the expectation of at least a 45-day absence from work. The University encourages employees to return to work as soon as their physician clears them to do so.

No, you do not need to be enrolled in short-term disability insurance to be eligible for CTL. However, if you have purchased short-term disability insurance, you may be able to spread out your CTL hours over a longer period.

Yes, as long as you meet the eligibility criteria listed in the CTL policy. The insurance claims process is separate from CTL.

No. Employees receiving workers’ compensation benefits are not eligible to receive CTL.

That depends on the circumstances of your maternity leave. You cannot receive CTL for a normal pregnancy (you may however qualify for Paid Parental Leave). If you have pregnancy complications or your baby needs extra care, you may become eligible for CTL. Please contact your leave advisor for more information.

Yes, provided you and your spouse both meet the eligibility requirements, you are both eligible for 480 CTL hours (adjusted for FTE).

That depends. Each grant has its own restrictions on how the award may be spent. Please consult with Sponsored Projects, sponsor@email.arizona.edu or 520-626-6000.

Application Process

You may request CTL as soon as a physician or health-care provider provides written documentation that you or a family member has a catastrophic medical condition. If approved, you may begin reporting CTL hours on your timesheet once you have exhausted all your available sick, vacation, and compensatory time. You are wise to submit a request as soon as the need for CTL is foreseeable.

Complete the Compassionate Transfer of Leave (CTL) Request Form, available on the Human Resources website at hr.arizona.edu/forms. Turn it in to your department business or human resources representative with a doctor’s statement confirming your (or your family member’s) catastrophic medical condition.

You may begin reporting CTL hours once your request for CTL has been approved by the Division of Human Resources, and you have exhausted all your available sick, vacation, and compensatory time.

The CTL Benefit

If you are a full-time (1 FTE, 40 hours per week) employee, you can receive up to 480 hours (12 weeks) per year. If you work less than 1.0 FTE, then 480 is divided by your FTE to determine how many hours you have available (e.g., .75 FTE (30 hours/week) x 480 = 360 hours).

No. All employees receive CTL hours on the same terms.

Your excess vacation time will automatically be donated at the end of each calendar year unless you request that it not be. To request that your vacation time be forfeited instead of donated, complete the Request to Forfeit Vacation Hours form on the Human Resources website at hr.arizona.edu/forms.

Normally, CTL will provide 12 weeks of pay. If you use CTL to supplement short-term disability insurance, your benefit may last up to 6 months.

You can view the number of CTL hours you have used each pay period, as well as year to date, on your paycheck in the “Hours and Earnings” section. Your departmental business or human resources representative can view a dashboard in UAccess Analytics at Employee > Leave Tracking > Leave Usage.

Time Reporting

If you are receiving Compassionate Transfer of Leave but are not on Family and Medical Leave, use these time reporting codes:

CSE – exempt employees
CSP – positive time reporters

If you are receiving Compassionate Transfer of Leave and are on Family and Medical Leave, use these  time reporting codes:

FCSE – exempt employees
FCSP – positive time reporters

You can be paid during the winter holiday and closure time as long as you are receiving pay (vacation/sick/CTL hours) on the last workday prior to the Christmas Eve holiday and the first workday after January 1.

That depends on whether your department is subject to the University closure. If your department closes, then the closure period and the paid holidays of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and January 1, do not count toward CTL. This time is preloaded as regular holidays or closure.

If your department stays open and you would normally be scheduled to work, record CTL hours for the days you are absent from work.

Record the other holidays: Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving using the codes below. (You or your supervisor will need to change the preloaded holiday time code.) These holidays do count against your allotted CTL hours. 

Holiday while on Family & Medical Leave (FML) & CTL: FCHE (exempt employees) or FCHP (positive time reporters

Holiday while on FML but not CTL: FMHE (exempt employees) or FMHP (positive time reporters)

Holiday while on CTL but not FML: CHE (exempt employees) or CHP (positive time reporters)