Human Resources announced a new program that allows staff and faculty to trade sick days for time off in order to participate in service related projects and activities.
The Sick-to-Service program, (S2S), became effective on Jan. 1 of this year. Employees who maintain a balance of 240 hours of sick leave are eligible to transfer up to 24 hours of sick leave hours to S2S service hours each year, according to the S2S info page on ACU’s website. The info page also states that employees that serve on approved ACU sponsored mission trips are eligible for an additional 8 hours.
Employees must submit their request at least 14 days before participating in the program.
The organizations that are S2S approved are:
Abilene Food Bank
ACU Mission Trips
ACU Spring Break Campaigns
Big Brothers/Big Sisters
Christian Service Center
Church sponsored mission trips
CitySquare
Compassion International
Disability Resource Incorporated
Faithworks
Global Samaritan
Habitat for Humanity
LiveBeyond
Meals on Wheels
Mission Lazarus
Noah Project
Regional Victim Crisis Center
Salvation Army
United Way
Wendy Jones, chief human resources officer.
Wendy Jones, chief human resources officer and Title IX co-coordinator, said the program was initiated by the Staff Senate, which is comprised of representatives from across campus.
Brandi Jo Delony, office manager and financial analyst in business services, had a hand in the development of the program and said it was the culmination of about 3 years worth of discussion among Staff Senate members and a year and a half of collaboration with Human Resources.
“I thought this could be a way for ACU employees to get out and serve more,” said Delony. “A lot of them like to do that but we end up having to use vacation [hours] to do that and sometimes you don’t have the hours available or you already have a family vacation scheduled.”
No employees have utilized the S2S program yet, but Jones said the HR department expects to see employees participate as spring break and summer plans are made.
