Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and Texas A&M University College of Engineering employees may donate sick and or vacation leave hours to the family leave pool on a non-taxable or taxable basis. This pool allows eligible employees to request to withdraw hours due to an illness or injury or other eligible reason resulting in the exhaustion of earned leave.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines for a medical emergency will be used to determine if the hours are non-taxable. Non-taxable hours may be used for a major illness or other medical condition that requires a prolonged absence from work (40 hours), including intermittent absences that are related to the same illness or condition.
Eligibility Requirements
Family leave pool requirements are:
- Employee has exhausted all available leave.
- Employee is not eligible for the sick leave pool.
- Supporting documentation must be provided, as applicable.
Reasons for Withdrawal
An employee is eligible to request and receive sick leave pool hours for:
- The birth of a child – non-taxable.
- Bonding – in the first year after child’s birth – taxable.
- Placement of foster child or adoption of a child under 18 years of age – non-taxable or taxable*.
- Placement of any person 18 years of age or older requiring guardianship - taxable.
- Serious illness of an immediate family member or the employee, including pandemic related illness – non-taxable.
- An extenuating circumstance created by an ongoing pandemic, including providing essential care to a family member – non-taxable or taxable*.
- A previous donation of time to the family leave pool – non-taxable or taxable*.
*In the event of adoption, a state employee who adopts a child under 3 years of age is to be treated as if he or she had undergone pregnancy and childbirth. Based on this, adoption of a child under placement of a foster child or adoption would be non-taxable. In the event of an extenuating circumstance, an example of a taxable event may be a school closure as this would not meet IRS medical emergency guidelines.
Requests to withdraw hours from the sick leave pool will route to the departmental leave administrator and the division head for review.
Supporting Documentation Requirements
An employee requesting family leave pool hours may need to provide documentation to support your request.
Documentation that is acceptable is listed below.
- For birth of a child:
- Physician or practitioner certification form for employee/family member.
- Bonding – in the first year after child’s birth:
- Birth certificate – verify use of bonding within first year.
- Placement of foster child or adoption of a child under 18 years of age:
- Adoption order.
- Placement of any person 18 years of age or older requiring guardianship:
- Placement order.
- Serious illness of an immediate family member or the employee, including pandemic related illness:
- Physician or practitioner certification form for employee/family member.
- An extenuating circumstance created by an ongoing pandemic, including providing essential care to a family member:
- Physician or practitioner certification form for employee/family member.
- Proof of closure of school or daycare.
- Persons listed as dependents on your Texas A&M medical plan will not require additional documentation of proof of relationship.
- Person not listed on your Texas A&M medical plan will require documentation that established your relationship (i.e. marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc.).
- A previous donation of time to the pool:
- No documentation as previous donations should be tracked/recorded.