The following questions and answers concerning Community Service Leave have been developed to assist State employees who are subject to G.S. 126 that are interested in volunteering for community service.

Q.  What types of organizations can be designated as an IRS 501(c)(3) agency?

A.  The 501(c)(3) agencies are commonly referred to as “charitable organizations”.   The organization must be organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or education purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.   The agency must operate as a non-partisan, non-profit organization.

A.  The IRS does have a website (www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/bus_info/eo/eosearch.html) that allows you to search for exempt organizations by name, city and state; however, this is not a comprehensive list of designated organizations. Churches or charitable organizations with less than $5,000 in revenue are not required to fill out the formal paperwork for exemption, so they may or may not appear on the list.

A.  All churches are designated as 501(c)(3) organizations; however, all services provided for a church might not meet the intent of the policy.  The volunteer service for a church related community service project must somehow meet a service need of the State of North Carolina’s schools, communities and citizens.  For example, a church sponsored mission trip to Brazil to rebuild a church destroyed by an earthquake would not qualify; however, a church sponsored project to repair a home in Wilson, N. C. that was flooded by Hurricane Floyd, would qualify for community service leave.  Also, qualifying service does not include activities designed to promote religious belief such as teaching or leading religious assemblies or in raising funds to support religious activities.

A.  No.  Participation in recreational or athletic activities does not meet the eligibility requirements.

A.  Yes.  A GAL is responsible for serving as a representative for children who are alleged to be abused, neglected or abandoned and who are involved in court proceedings.  Any service that directly impacts the human service needs of children is considered eligible.

A. Contact the Governor’s Office of Citizen and Community Services at 1-877- SERVE NC.

A.  They would begin earning credit for community service leave in September.  As with other benefits such as vacation leave and sick leave, employees must be in pay status for one-half or more of the regularly scheduled workdays and holidays in the pay period in order to earn benefits.

A.  No.  The intent of the policy is to directly meet the health and human service needs of citizens.  Meetings to plan or discuss community service activities, elect officers or any other administrative activities would not meet eligibility requirements.

A.  No.  Participation in fundraising projects does not meet the intent of the Community Service Leave policy.  Volunteer services performed by employees should be delivered in a way that directly meets a human service need of citizens of North Carolina, and that need can only be met during regularly scheduled work hours.

A.  There is not an all-inclusive list of human service organizations available.  Some examples of human service organizations would include psychiatric hospitals, developmental disability centers, alcohol/drug abuse treatment centers, nursing care facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, home health agencies, and intermediate care facilities for mentally retarded (ICF-MR) persons.  Most of these organizations have very active volunteer service programs.  To find out more about human service organization, you can visit the website of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services at www.dhhs.state.nc.us.

A.  Employees can use leave if they are volunteering to work inside the polls for the State or County Board of Election to facilitate the voting process.  Leave cannot be used for handing out brochures, transporting voters or other partisan campaigning.

A.  Yes.  The Adopt-A-Highway Program is a volunteer program of the N. C. Department of Transportation.  Any volunteer work performed for State or Local government agencies would qualify for community service leave.  Volunteers perform many services that would otherwise become the financial responsibility of the State and local governments if not performed by volunteer workers.

A.  There is currently no restriction on using leave for travel time. We will continue to allow reasonable travel time to be charged toward community service leave. The majority of the leave should be used for direct service. Each agency/university will be responsible for determining approval of travel time on a case by case basis to ensure consistency in the interpretation of reasonable travel time. Check with your agency/university Human Resources Office to see if they have written guidelines on travel time.

A.  For more information on the Community Service Leave, contact either Shari Howard (shari.g.howard@ncmail.net) or Marilyn Hucks (marilyn.hucks@ncmail.net) who can assist you.