Community service added to leave policy

By Matt Kelly

The state’s school leave policy has been expanded and renamed.

Last July, the school leave policy, in effect since 1993, quietly expanded from eight to 16 hours, and the range of permissible leave activities was broadened to the point where it was rechristened “community service leave.” Where the old policy provided leave only for school-related activities, such as attending parent-teacher conferences or chaperoning field trips, the new policy now encompasses hours spent volunteering for community service organizations that provide services to the handicapped and disaster victims, or provide health, welfare or emergency services.

Many University employees use the community service leave, according to Rose Mundie, leave supervisor with U.Va. Human Resources, but specific figures are not available.

Employees who wish to use this leave must receive approval from their supervisor, who may require written verification from the school or organization that will benefit. State guidelines allow supervisors to deny the leave request if its scheduling will disrupt the department’s operation.

The expanded policy covers members of volunteer fire departments, rescue squads and their auxiliaries responding to emergencies during work hours or arriving late at work due to an emergency. Employees may also use the time to perform hands-on volunteer activities, such as delivering meals to the elderly, but they cannot take community service leave for planning meetings or social functions of the organization.

Mundie said she has not seen an increase in volunteerism since the new policy took effect.

“A majority of the people use it for school. They just have eight more hours to use,” she said.

The policy applies to parents and guardians with children in preschool through high school; even those who home-school their children may use it to meet with local school officials and take field trips.

With its limited duration, the leave is intended to be used to volunteer in the local community. Assisting with longer-term disaster relief, such as working in New York City after the terrorist attacks, falls under a different policy, Mundie said.

Part-time employees receive a proportional amount of community service leave. There is no carry-over, nor any pay-out for unused leave to employees leaving state service.