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Leave

Voluntary Shared Leave (VSL)

VSL

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Voluntary Shared Leave allows one employee to assist another employee in the case of a prolonged medical condition that exhausts the employee’s available leave and would otherwise force the employee to be in leave-without-pay status. VSL does not apply to incidental or short-term medical conditions but rather to a prolonged medical condition that requires an employee’s absence from duty for at least 20 consecutive work days. Eligible University employees have the opportunity to both donate and request VSL under qualifying conditions. See the Voluntary Shared Leave Policy for complete details.

Eligible employees can both donate and request VSL.

  • VSL applies to permanent, probationary, and time-limited SHRA, EHRA Non-Faculty and twelve-month Faculty employees who work 20 or more hours per week.
  • SHRA, EHRA Non-Faculty and twelve-month Faculty employees who work less than 40 hours per week are eligible for this leave on a prorated basis.

    • Nine-month Faculty are not eligible for this leave.

To receive VSL
Employee’s combined Sick Leave and vacation leave (Annual, Vacation or Personal Leave) balance must be 160 hours or less to qualify for applying to recieve VSL.

Use the online Leave Request Form through ConnectCarolina Self Service to donate leave hours. You will also need to complete the Voluntary Shared Donation Form (pdf) and upload it into ConnectCarolina.

You can find the donation form along with instructions on how to access the online Leave Request Form and how to upload documentation on Online Leave Request Form & Other Leave Forms webpage.

  • Leave may be donated on a one-to-one personal basis or to an unspecified recipient.
  • The employee and their department representatives are responsible for identifying leave donors.
  • An employee cannot donate more than their annual vacation accrual amount.
  • An employee can donate up to 5 days of sick leave per year to any one non-family member recipient.
  • The combined total of sick leave donated to a recipient from non-family members shall not exceed 20 days per year.
  • The minimum donation is four hours.
Employees can donate the following types of leave to the VSL program within the 30 days of your last date of employment:

  • vacation leave (Vacation Leave, Annual Leave or Personal Leave)
  • Bonus Leave
  • Sick Leave
The employee must exhaust all accrued vacation leave (Vacation Leave, Annual Leave or Personal Leave), Sick Leave, Bonus Leave, compensatory time off and any other available paid time off before using any donated shared leave.

  • Use the Online Leave Request Form to request this leave. See the Online Leave Request Form & Other Leave Forms webpage for information about the form and instructions on how to use the form in ConnectCarolina Self Service.
  • Prior manager approval and documentation required.

Contact UNC Leave Team

Email | leave@unc.edu
Phone | 919-962-3071
Fax | 919-962-6010