A Guide Family Medical Leave Act - APWU

1 11A Guide to the Family & Medical Leave ActAmerican Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIOThis Guide was prepared by the Industrial Relations Department, Vance Zimmerman, Director. 3 June 2016 Dear APWU Sisters and Brothers,The Family and Medical Leave Act ( fmla ) provides significant job protection to postal workers when time off is needed to attend to serious Medical issues and certain Family events. It was a significant step forward in creating a better balance between work and our personal the inception of the law, the APWU has ensured that you, the member, are familiar with your new booklet, prepared by the APWU Industrial Relations Department, continues this ongoing effort. It contains important updates and new information regarding the am confident you will find this information valuable and hope you avail yourselves of your rights under this important in Union Solidarity,Mark Dimondstein President34A Guide to the Family & Medical Leave ActTable of ContentsAPWU President s Letter.

2 3 A Guide to the Family & Medical Leave Act ..6 Who Can Use fmla Leave ? ..7 How Much Leave Can Be Taken? ..7 How Can Leave Be Taken? ..7 When Can fmla Leave Be Taken? ..8 What Constitutes a Serious Health Condition? ..9 What Constitutes a Qualifying Exigency? ..10 Caring for a Covered Servicemember ..10 Job Protection for fmla Leave ..11 Procedure for Requesting fmla Documentation is Required? ..11 Management s Response to fmla Leave Requests ..12 Returning from Leave ..135 FormsAPWU Form 1 Certification of Employee s Serious Health Condition APWU Form 2 Certification of Family Member s Serious Health Condition Sample Form Certification of Employee s Absence Plus Treatment ..23 Sample Form Certification of Employee s Serious Health Condition Cancer ..25 Sample Form Certification of Employee s Serious Health Condition Hospital Stay ..27 Sample Form Certification of Employee s Serious Health Condition Migraines ..29 Sample Form Certification of Employee s Serious Health Condition Diabetes.

3 31 Sample Form Certification of Employee s Serious Health Condition Musculoskeletal ..33 Sample Form Certification of Employee s Serious Health Condition Permanent Long-Term Care ..35 Sample Form Certification of Employee s Serious Health Condition Pregnancy ..37 Sample Form Certification of Family Member s Serious Health Condition Absence Plus Treatment ..39 Sample Form Certification of Family Member s Serious Health Condition Asthma ..41 Sample Form Certification of Family Member s Serious Health Condition Hospital Stay ..43 Sample Form Certification of Family Member s Serious Health Condition Multiple Treatments ..45 Sample Form Certification of Family Member s Serious Health Condition Permanent Long-Term ..47 Sample Form `Certification of Family Member s Serious Health Condition Pregnancy ..496under the Family and Medical Leave act of 1993 ( fmla ), eligible employees of the Postal Service are entitled to receive unpaid Leave for qualified Medical and Family reasons.

4 Qualified Medical and Family reasons include: personal or Family illness, pregnancy, adoption, or the foster-care placement of a child. The fmla is intended to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families. It allows eligible employees to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid Leave during any 12-month period to attend to the serious health condition of the employee, his or her parent, spouse or child, or for pregnancy or care of a newborn child, or for adoption or foster care of a be eligible for fmla Leave , an employee must have been employed by the employer at least 12 months, and worked at least 1,250 hours over the past 12 months, and work at a location where the employ-er employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 amended the fmla to provide two types of military Family Leave for fmla -eligible employees: qualifying exigency Leave and military caregiver Leave . The fmla is administered by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor.

5 The Postal Service is required to abide by the fmla , and has incorporated its requirements into the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM). The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the APWU and the USPS incorporates many of the fmla s protections as well. This booklet is designed to explain union members rights and obligations for requesting Leave under the fmla , the ELM and the CBA. For more information, please contact your local Guide TO THE Family & Medical Leave ACT7 Who Can Use fmla Leave ?Employees who meet the following requirements are eligible for fmla Leave : Worked for the USPS for at least 12 months before the Leave is taken and Worked at least 1250 hours in the 12-month period before the Leave is same eligibility requirements apply to employees seeking qualifying exigency Leave and/or military caregiver Much Leave Can Be Taken?Employees may use up to 12 workweeks in any Leave year for fmla or qualifying exigency Leave . To-gether, fmla Leave and qualifying exigency Leave may total no more than 12 workweeks in any Leave tracks this by hours, based on 12 weeks times the hours normally/regularly scheduled in the employee s workweek.

6 Employees who work 40 hours/week, may use 480 hours of fmla Leave per Leave year. Employees who work 30 hours/week, may use 360 hours of fmla Leave per Leave Leave year begins on the first day of the first complete pay period in a calendar year and ends on the day before the first day of the first complete pay period in the following calendar may use up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period for military caregiver single 12-month period begins with the first day of Leave ; it is not the same as a Leave year. Military caregiver Leave may be combined with fmla Leave up to a maximum of 26 workweeks of Leave in a single 12-month period. Example: An employee who uses 22 workweeks of military caregiver Leave from June to November will only be able to use 4 workweeks of fmla Leave from November to June of the next year. This is the case even though it means the employee is not using 12 workweeks of fmla Leave within the Leave year. If the Leave qualifies for both military caregiver Leave and fmla Leave , the USPS must designate it as military caregiver Leave first.

7 If the Leave qualifies for both, the USPS cannot count it against both the 26-week military caregiv-er Leave and the 12-week fmla Leave for other fmla -qualifying reasons, except that, as explained above, a maximum of 26 workweeks of combined Leave may be taken in any 12-month Can Leave Be Taken? The Leave can be taken in a single block of time. Example: One month to recover from surgery The Leave can be taken in multiple, smaller blocks of time if medically necessary. (This is known as intermittent Leave . ) Example: Occasional absences due to condition or for doctor The Leave can be taken on a part-time basis if medically necessary. Example: After surgery an employee can only return to work for 4 hours per shift or 3 shifts per week for a period of time. Employees must schedule intermittent Leave at a time that minimizes the disruption to the employ-er, where possible. Unused Leave cannot be carried over into the next Leave period or 12-month period.

8 Generally, fmla Leave is unpaid unless employ-ees use accrued sick or vacation Leave at the same Employees may use up to 80 hours of sick Leave to care for son, daughter, parent or spouse. This would run concurrently with not consecutive to fmla Leave ; that is, employees would max out at 12 weeks, not 12 weeks plus 80 USPS cannot require employees to exhaust annual and sick Leave before they request unpaid Can fmla Leave Be Taken? For the birth of a child or placement of a child with the employee through adoption or foster Applies to both mother and Must be taken within 1 year of a child s birth or placement. o Must be taken in 1 block unless the employer agrees to schedule intermittent Leave . For a serious health condition of yourself or your spouse, child or Spouse is husband or wife, and includes legally-married same-sex spouses (as long as the marriage was legal in the state it was cel-ebrated, even if the couple live in a state that does not recognize same-sex marriage).

9 O Child includes biological, adopted, foster and stepchildren, as well as legal wards and a child of a person standing in locos parentis (a person who has day-to-day responsibility to care for and financially support the child); 9if the child is over 18, he or she must be incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability at time the Leave Parent includes biological, adopted, foster and step-parents, as well as persons who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a child, but not in-laws. To care for an ill or injured spouse, son, daughter, parent or next of kin who is a covered service-member. (See below.)o For a qualifying exigency arising from the foreign deployment of an employee s spouse, son, daughter, or parent who is a member of the Armed Forces (including the National Guard and Reserves). (See below.)What Constitutes a Serious Health Condition? Serious health condition means illness, inju-ry, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves any of the following: Pregnancy (includes prenatal Medical appoint-ments, incapacity due to morning sickness, and medically-required bed rest).

10 If the employee is unable to report to work because of morning sick-ness, the Leave can be covered even though she is not treated by doctor during absence. Overnight stay in a hospital or other Medical care facility. Incapacity (unable to work or attend school) for more than 3 consecutive days AND o Two or more treatments by health care pro-vider within 30 days of first day of incapacity ORo One treatment by health care provider and fol-low-up care such as prescription First (or only) treatment must be within 7 days of the first day of incapacity. Example: The flu or bronchitis won t qualify unless a doctor cer-tifies the employee must be out of work more than 3 days and writes a prescription. Chronic condition that requires treatment at least twice a year, continues over extended period of time, and causes occasional periods of incapacita-tion. Employees who are unable to report to work because of a chronic condition may be covered even if they are not treated by a doctor during their : Diabetes Period of incapacity that is permanent or long-term due to a condition for which treatment may not be effective; person must be under continuing supervision of health care provider, but not neces-sarily under active : Stroke, Alzheimer s Period of absence to receive multiple treatments (and period of recovery afterward) for restorative surgery after an accident or injury or for a condi-tion that would likely result in incapacity of more than 3 consecutive days if not : Cancer, kidney disease10 What Constitutes a Qualifying Exigency?