Voluntary Shared Leave: An Exploratory Analysis

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Author: Mark D. Bradbury
• Date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/0091026019889378
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026019889378

Public Personnel Management

2020, Vol. 49(4) 532 –546

© The Author(s) 2019

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DOI: 10.1177/0091026019889378

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Article

Voluntary Shared Leave: An

Exploratory Analysis

Mark D. Bradbury1

Abstract

Voluntary leave sharing programs allow an employee to donate accumulated leave to

a coworker who is experiencing a hardship and has exhausted their leave balance.

This study examines a voluntary leave sharing program at a state agency and concludes

that the program is an effective strategy for reducing the agency’s unfunded liability

posed by accumulated leave balances. Such programs may also be an appealing type of

family-friendly benefit as female employees are also more likely to participate in the

program and receive more generous donations of leave than their male colleagues.

Keywords

voluntary shared leave, sick leave, unfunded liability, family-friendly

Introduction

Over 90% of state and local government workers receive paid sick leave in their com-

pensation package, although a significant proportion of earned sick leave is “unspent”

in the near-term and saved for use at a later time (Reilly & Thom, 2017; U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics, 2018). The resulting unused, accumulated sick leave balances consti-

tute a notable unfunded liability for employing governments and have been described

as a “headache” and “budget-buster” (Barrett & Greene, 2012; Reilly, 2015). One strat-

egy for encouraging the use of sick leave balances is for agencies to establish a volun-

tary leave sharing program whereby one employee can donate accumulated leave to a

coworker who is experiencing a hardship and has exhausted their leave balance.

This study compares a voluntary leave sharing program at a state agency to best

practices advice offered by a prominent professional organization to examine two key

questions. First, does the voluntary shared leave program constitute an effective

1Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Mark D. Bradbury, College of Arts & Sciences, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608, USA.

Email: Bradburymd@appstate.edu

889378PPMXXX10.1177/0091026019889378Public Personnel ManagementBradbury

research-article2019