Catherwood LibraryILR School

With employers placing ever increasing demands for improved productivity on an American workforce that is already the most overworked among advanced industrial countries (see WIT's for Sep. 9 and Nov. 8, 2002), the popularity of leave donation or "catastrophic leave" policies is rising among workers. In such systems, employers allow workers to donate sick leave and personal leave to co-workers faced with major illnesses, accidents, trauma or hardships, in order to help their colleagues avoid the loss of jobs or full-time pay. Although even the Society for Human Resource Management has pointed out that these systems have clear benefits not only for workers, but also for employers who can gain an advantage in recruitment and hiring by offering this cost-free benefit, the vast majority of employers have failed to take advantage of such systems.