Maybe You Should File for FMLA

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was passed almost 30 years ago to help workplace demands with the medical needs of employees and their families.  The biggest benefit for any carrier that needs to take leave for conditions covered under FMLA is that the time taken off under FMLA cannot be used against the carrier when issuing discipline for attendance.

     Recently Management has been issuing discipline for “Failure to be Regular in Attendance” in many offices.  As I speak to the carriers that are being issued discipline for attendance issues, I see one constant theme that they have a medical issue that appears to be chronic and could possibly be covered under FMLA. If you have a chronic condition, maybe it’s time for you to consult with your doctor and see if you have a medical condition that may qualify for FMLA.

     Any carrier that is FMLA eligible is entitled to take up to 12 weeks of leave, which can be either your own Sick Leave, Annual Leave, or Leave Without Pay (LWOP) for the following reasons:

·       Leave for the employee’s own serious health condition.

·       Leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Leave is also available to take to care of a family member whose health condition qualifies under FMLA, but the employee may take time off to care for a parent, spouse, or child under the provision. Other family members are not covered.

·       Parental bonding leave, Employees may take time off to be with a new child, during the first year after the child is born or placed for adoption or foster care.

·       Qualifying exigency leave. If an employee’s family member is called or deployed for active military duty, the employee may take FMLA leave to handle certain issues arising from the service.

·       Military caregiver leave.

·       An employee with a family member who suffers or exacerbates a service-related illness or injury may take FMLA leave to provide care. More family members are covered under this provision, and employees may be entitled to more time off.

     To be eligible under FMLA an employee must have worked for the Postal Service for at least 12 months prior to requesting the leave. The employee must have also worked at least 1250 hours over those 12-month time period.

     Under the FMLA, a serious health condition is an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care (defined as an overnight stay in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility; any overnight admission to such facilities is an automatic trigger for FMLA eligibility) or continuing treatment by a health care provider. Examples include the following:

      Continuing treatment by a health care provider that results in an incapacity (inability to work) of more than three consecutive calendar days with either two or more in-person visits to the health care provider within 30 days of the date of the incapacity or one in-person visit to a health care provider with a regimen of continuing treatment, such as prescription medication, physical therapy, etc. In either situation, the first visit to the health care provider must occur within seven days of the first date of incapacity. Examples include pneumonia, surgery, or broken/ fractured bones.

·       Chronic conditions that require periodic visits to a health care provider, continue over an extended period of time and may cause episodic rather than continuing periods of incapacity of more than three days. Examples of chronic conditions include asthma, diabetes and epilepsy.

·       Incapacity for pregnancy or prenatal care (any such incapacity is FMLA- protected regardless of the period of incapacity). For example, a pregnant employee may be unable to report to work due to severe morning sickness.

·       Permanent or long-term conditions such as Alzheimer’s severe stroke or terminal disease.

·       Conditions requiring multiple treatments and recovery from treatments and recovery from treatments, such as cancer, severe arthritis and kidney disease.

·       Treatment for substance abuse by a health care provider or by a provider of health care services on referral by a health care provider.

·       Leave due to the birth, or adoption or placement for foster care of a child does not require medical necessity or any period of incapacity. FMLA leave is available for bonding with the baby/child. Letter Carriers may take FMLA leave for themselves or to care for their parent, spouse, son or daughter whose medical condition meets the above criteria. The FMLA regulations specifically exclude the following conditions, unless inpatient care or complications develop that would meet the above criteria: cosmetic treatments, common colds, flu, earaches, upset stomach, minor ulcers, headaches other than migraine, routine dental or orthodontia problems, and periodontal disease.

     If there is any chance that a medical condition might meet the definition of a serious health condition under FMLA, it is important to use notification and certification forms and let the health care provider make the determination whether a serious health condition exists. An example of this could be COVID-19 for those suffering from “Long Haulers Disease” that were unable to file for workers compensation due to the person did not contract the disease from work.

     The best way to obtain the FMLA Forms is to go onto the Branch 6000 website (www.nalcbranch6000.com) click on the “LINKS” and scroll down to Government Agency and click on FMLA Printable Forms. You can also go onto the National website (www.NALC.org) click on the box under Workplace Issues and then click onto the Sub Section under Family Medical Leave Act. Once on the FMLA page on the NALC website you may then click onto the one of the NALC Forms (listed below) for the appropriate forms pertaining to your FMLA related condition. Both websites offer the following:

·       Medical Certification- Employee’s Own Serious Health Condition

·       Family Members Serious Health Condition

·       Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave

·       Certification for Serious injury or illness of Current Covered Services- member for Military Caregiver Leave

·       Certification for a Serious Injury or illness of a Veteran for Military Caregiver Leave.

·       Employee’s Notification of New- Child in the Family.

     The FMLA Forms when completed by your health care provider should be immediately submitted to the FMLA Administration Human Resources Share Services Center (HRSSC). It is not necessary to submit the FMLA Forms to your supervisor but as always when absent complete Postal Service Form 3971 check off sick and under “Other” write FMLA, once the form is completed and signed by the Manager make a copy of the form for your own records.  It’s important that you fill out the form and not let Management give you a computer-generated form already filled out. Many times, when Management completes the form, they write non FMLA illness.

     The address for HRSSC that all carriers either in the Triboro or Long Island District must submit the FMLA Forms is as follows:

      HRSSC FMLA NORTH-EAST, P.O Box 970901, Greensboro NC 27497-0901

     To contact HRSSC dial 1-877-477-3273 then select #6.  Remember when you send any information to HRSSC including FMLA Forms please make sure you obtain some sort of conformation back to confirm the information you sent was actually received by HRSSC and of course save it for your records.