For those of you who haven’t seen a story out of Napa County, the Board of Supervisors recently approved a change to their paid time off policy. The county, which already had a Catastrophic Leave Policy on the books, expanded the amount of leave that an employee could receive from co-workers.

The change was spurred by one of the county’s correctional employees whose daughter is battling kidney cancer at the age of 13. The employee, who has already exhausted her own leave, still has months left on her daughter’s road to recovery. All said, the chemo treatments will last six months.

In the days immediately following the Board’s unanimous decision to allow increased donations, more than 300 hours of paid time off were donated.  That’s more than eight weeks of extra time off.

At any time of year, good governance should be highlighted and celebrated. But particularly around the holiday season, acts of responsible governance, exemplary citizenship, and compassion should be lauded.

Well done, Napa County Board of Supervisors.

From the Napa Valley Register:

The plight of a corrections employee whose child is battling cancer has prompted the Napa County Board of Supervisors to approve a policy change to allow employees to donate vacation and sick hours to co-workers to care for a child or loved one stricken with a catastrophic illness or injury.

The issue arose when Theresa Pearson, a 36-year-old Napa County correctional employee, learned that co-workers were willing but unable to donate hours to help her care for her 10-year-old daughter, Amber, who is battling kidney cancer.

Read the full article here.