Comments (scroll down to add your own):

1. Thanks for the link to the charity rating site — good to know. And thanks for being part of the effort to help!

   Comment by FMF — Sep 1st 2005 @ 7:53 am

2. Nickel –

   Looks like you’re getting some coverage. Good for you!!! I love to see someone get rewarded when they do something good!

   FMF

   Comment by FMF — Sep 1st 2005 @ 11:35 am

3. You can now donate your extra vacation days and sick days to charity:

   If you consistently have extra vacation, sick or personal days from work that you don’t use, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has provided a way that you can help victims of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Instead of letting these days go to waste, you can donate them to help victims from the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

   The Department of the Treasury and IRS have set up a special program (Under Notice 2005-68) which was initiated to encourage employees to donate their unused sick or vacation days to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Under this special program, employees can donate their vacation, sick or personal leave days back to their company. Their employer then takes the value of the time donated and makes a cash donation to a charity helping out in the relief effort.

   To meet the program’s requirements, the cash donation must be made to a qualified tax-exempt organizations providing relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The employer must also make the cash donation payment before January 1, 2007. In return, the employees do not have to count the donated leave as part of their income and employers are allowed to deduct the amount of the cash payment from their taxes.

   If you know that you will not be using all the vacation and/or sick days that you are entitled to take, contact the personnel office of your company to see if you can arrange to donate your unused days to help those struggling to recover. It’s an easy way to make a difference with a minimal amount of effort on your part, especially if you usually do not use all of your allotted days each year.

   Comment by SavingAdvice — Sep 9th 2005 @ 11:41 am

4. My Supervisor is pretty excited each year when nobody in his department uses any of there 80 hours of sick time. I have only used 4 hours for the last 3 years. I think it will be interseting to see his response if we all go in and tell him that we want to donate our time to the disaster relief !! What would be the downside for employers?? I would like to make a big push for this but need the answers first..thanks

   Comment by Scott — Sep 19th 2005 @ 8:13 pm

5. I guess the employer might not be thrilled at having to fork out the cash for the sick time. If someone quits (or is fired) without claiming their sick leave, they may be able to get out of paying for it. This blow is, of course, softened by the fact that they get to claim a tax deduction for having made a charitable contribution. Even if the employer has a policy wherein they pay their employees for unused leave at termination, having everyone cash it in at once might create a problem on their balance sheet (at least during that quarter). I’m not really sure, though.

   Comment by nickel — Sep 19th 2005 @ 8:23 pm

6. The company makes millions. I am just not sure my supervisor would appreciate it!!
   I would think that the company would use the donation as some sort of PR. My personel lady comes back next week. I will let you know how it goes. 80 hours at $17 an hour would probably make a nice donation.

   Comment by Scott — Sep 20th 2005 @ 6:57 pm

7. Yeah, that would be an especially nice donation when you multiply it across your co-workers, as well. I hope it works out.

   Comment by nickel — Sep 20th 2005 @ 8:31 pm

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