FMLA

Eligibility

Employees are eligible if they:

• Have worked for the Postal Service for at least 12 months

• Have at least 1,250 hours of service (about 24 hours per week) with the employer during the 12 months before their FMLA leave starts,

• And work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles 

 

 

Absences Covered

Eligible employees must be allowed a total of up to 12 workweeks of leave within a Postal Service leave year for the following reasons:

• The birth of a child or placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care,

• The care for a child, spouse, or parent who has a serious health condition,

• A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to work,

• Reasons related to a family member’s service in the military, including

  • Qualifying exigency leave - Leave for certain reasons related to a family member’s foreign deployment, and 

  • Military caregiver leave – leave when a family member is a current servicemember or recent veteran with a serious injury or illness.

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Approval

Leave must be requested on a PS Form 3971, Request for or Notification of Absence, together with documentation supporting the request, at least 30 days before the absence if the need for the leave is foreseeable.  If 30 days notice is not practicable, or where the need for leave is not foreseeable, the employee must give notice as soon as practicable.  Ordinarily, this means that notification of the absence should be relayed to the employee’s supervisor before the start of his or her tour. The employee will receive, or be mailed, a WH-381, Notice of Eligibility and Rights and Responsibilities, which details the specific rights and responsibilities and the consequences of the failure to meet those responsibilities.

 

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Additional Info

FMLA is job-protected, unpaid leave. Employees may use annual leave or sick leave at the same time that they take FMLA leave if the reason they are using FMLA leave is covered by the employer’s paid leave policy. An employer may also require employees to use their paid leave during FMLA leave.  

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For more information please go to https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla

For questions please reach out to your trusted stewards