Family Friendly Leave

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Family Friendly Leave VLTP --

• Keeping it Simple
• (FAA30200229)

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Reminder - Union Agreements

• This information can be supplemented or
  superseded by union agreements
• Review applicable union contracts, MOUs, and MOAs
  pertaining to leave
• Consult your AHR, Employee/Labor Relations
  Specialists

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Objectives

• Provide information that will assist managers in
• making future decisions regarding employee
  requests for sick leave to care for family
  members
• understanding management responsibilities and
  employee rights related to the Family Medical
  Leave Act and how to properly apply its
  provisions and
• understanding how the Voluntary Leave Transfer
  Program works and how to apply its provisions to
  employee family care needs.

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Managers Responsibilities

• Administer leave in compliance with applicable
  laws and regulations
• Advise employees on leave matters
• Approve or disapprove leave
• Ensure that absences are properly charged

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SICK LEAVE FOR FAMILY CARE
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Sick Leave for Family Care

• Sick Leave for General Family Medical Care and
  Bereavement
• Sick Leave to Care for a Family Member with a
  Serious Health Condition
• Sick Leave for Adoption

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Definition of Family Member

• Spouse and parents of the spouse
• Children and their spouses
• Parents
• Brothers and sisters and their spouses
• Any individual whose close association with an
  employee is the equivalent of a close family
  relationship

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Sick Leave for General Family Care and Bereavement

• Full-time employees may use up to 40 hours of
  sick leave each leave year for
• general family medical care, or
• bereavement purposes
• Part-time employees may use a
• pro-rated amount

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Sick Leave For General Family Care and
Bereavement (contd)

• Full-time employees may use a total of 104 hours
  for this purpose in a leave year if a
  balance of 80 hours sick leave is maintained

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Sick Leave for Family Care (Serious Health
Condition)

• Up to 12 weeks of sick leave (480 hours for
  full-time employees) may be used during the leave
  year
• Must always maintain a balance of 80 hours of
  sick leave
• Any previous sick leave used for general family
  care bereavement must be deducted
• Managers must ensure the proper TA code is used

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Definition of Serious Health Condition

• Illness, injury, impairment, or physical or
  mental condition that involves
• Inpatient care
• Hospital
• Hospice
• Residential medical care facility

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Definition of Serious Health Condition

• Continuing treatment by a health care provider
• Incapacity and treatment
• Pregnancy and prenatal care
• Chronic conditions
• Permanent or long-term conditions
• Conditions requiring multiple treatments
  (non-chronic)

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Advanced Sick Leave for Care of Family Member

• Full-time employees may be advanced sick leave
  provided it does not result in the employee
  exceeding 40 hours of sick leave allowed for
  family purposes during a leave year.
• For example, if an employee has already used 15
  hours of sick leave for family purposes during a
  leave year, but has no sick leave left, then
  he/she can only be advanced 25 hours of sick
  leave for such purposes.

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Sick Leave for Adoption

• No limit to the amount of sick leave that can be
  used for adoption purposes
• Certain appointments
• Court proceedings
• Required travel
• If court ordered, bonding with child

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Documentation Required?

• General family medical care or bereavement
  purposes (it depends)
• Serious health condition of family member
• (yes)
• Adoption (yes)

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Rights Responsibilities

• Employee Right to take earned sick leave to
  care for family members if she/he meets
  requirements, provides documentation where
  required and obtains managements approval
• Manager Right to grant or deny sick leave
  request based on properly submitted documentation

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References and Contacts

• HRPM LWS 8.2, Leave Options to Care for a Family
  Member
• Contact your servicing Human Resources Office

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Family and Medical Leave Act
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Family and Medical Leave Act

• Entitlement to unpaid family and medical leave,
  military caregiver leave, and qualifying exigency
  leave
• Continuation of health benefits
• Job-protection -- right to return to the same or
  equal position
• Right of action

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Eligibility Requirements

• Employed a total of 12 months (need not be
  consecutive)
• Worked at least 1250 hours during preceding
  12-month period
• Break in service over 7 years is not creditable
• National Guard and Reserve obligations are
  creditable

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Family and Medical Leave

• Provides up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave (or
  substitution of accrued paid leave) during the
  12-month period

• What are the qualifying reasons for leave?
• Birth and care of a son or daughter
• Placement of child for adoption or foster care
• Serious health condition of the employee
• Care of a family member with a serious health
  condition

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Definition of Family Members

• Family members include the employees
• Spouse
• Son or daughter
• Parents
• FAA policy allows leave to be taken for other
  covered family members not specifically covered
  by FMLA
• Covered family members include the spouses
  parents children and their spouses brothers and
  sisters, and their spouses and any individual
  whose close association with an employee is the
  equivalent of a close family relationship

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Serious Health Condition

• Serious health condition is an illness, injury,
  impairment, or physical or mental condition that
  requires inpatient care or continuing treatment
• Refer to sick leave for family care

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Qualifying Exigency Leave

• Provides up to 12 workweeks or less of unpaid
  leave (or substitution of accrued paid leave)
  during the 12-month period to handle situations
  arising out of a military members active duty
  service or call to active duty

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What is a Qualifying Exigency?

• Short-notice deployment
• Up to 7 days of leave
• Military events and related activities
• Child care and school activities
• Financial and legal arrangements
• Counseling sessions
• Rest and recuperation
• Up to 5 days of leave
• Post-deployment activities
• Additional activities or events

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Family Member

• Who is eligible to take qualifying exigency
  leave?
• Spouse
• Parent
• Son or Daughter, of any age

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Covered Military Member

• Who is considered a covered military member?
• National Guard and Reserves on active duty or who
  have been called to active duty in support of a
  contingency operation
• Does not apply to the regular Armed Forces
• Does not apply to active duty when called by a
  State

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Military Caregiver Leave

• Provides up to 26 workweeks of unpaid leave (or
  substitution of accrued paid leave) to care for a
  covered servicemember who suffers injury or
  illness on active duty during a single 12-month
  period
• Servicemember is medically unfit to perform
  duties
• Requires physical or psychological care from
  employee
• Entitlement is limited to a total of 26 workweeks
  when both spouses are employed by FAA

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Eligible Caregiver

• Who are the eligible caregivers?
• Spouse
• Son or daughter, of any age
• Parent
• Next of kin

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Covered Servicemember

• Who is a covered servicemember?
• Regular Armed Forces
• National Guard and Reserves
• Temporary Disability Retirement List (TDRL)
• Does not cover those Retired or Discharged

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Key Points to Remember . . .

• Provides job-protected, unpaid leave
• Maximum limitation of 26 workweeks of leave for
  any FMLA-qualifying reason during the 12-month
  period
• New military family leave does not prevent an
  employee from taking family and medical leave
• Different definitions of family member for each
  leave provision

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Employees Responsibilities

• Uses normal procedures to request leave
• Does not have to invoke FMLA
• Provides 30-days advance notice, when
  foreseeable
• Provides notice as soon as practicable, when
  unforeseeable
• Provides required documentation

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Managers Responsibilities

• Ensures employees are aware of FMLA
• Must approve FMLA-qualifying leave
• Issues Notice of Eligibility and Rights
  Responsibilities (Form WH-381)
• Within 5 business days
• Requests appropriate documentation

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Managers Responsibilities

• Issues Designation Notice (Form WH-382)
• Within 5 business days
• Designates amount of paid or unpaid FMLA leave
• Approves/Delays/Denies FMLA leave request
• Consults with Human Resources
• Eligibility Determinations
• Sufficiency of medical certification

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FMLA References Contact Information

• FAA Policy Guidance HRPM LWS 8.20 - Family and
  Medical Leave Act
• Department of Labors website
  www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla
• Contact your servicing Human Resources Office

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Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP)
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Purpose

• Stop-gap measure to ease the financial burden of
  an employee without leave who is suffering from,
  or caring for a family member with, a medical
  emergency
• Not meant to substitute for disability retirement
  or serve as long-term solution

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Eligible Leave Recipients

• Full-time or part-time permanent or temporary
  employees
• Not available to intermittent employees because
  they dont earn leave

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Qualifying Requirements for Leave Recipient

• Conditions to be a leave recipient
• Affected by medical emergency (employee or family
  member)
• Absent from duty without available leave
• Full-time 24 or more hours
• Part-time 30 of the biweekly tour of duty

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Medical Emergency

• A medical emergency is a medical condition that
  results in a substantial loss of pay
• A medical condition is a serious illness, injury,
  impairment, or physical or mental condition that
  involves inpatient care or continuing treatment
  by a health care provider

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Definition of Family Member

• Family Member
• Spouse and parents of the spouse
• Children and their spouses
• Parents
• Brothers and sisters and their spouses
• Any individual whose close association is
  equivalent of a close family relationship

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Qualifying Leave Requirements

• Must use all available leave
• For employee medical emergency must exhaust all
  annual and sick leave
• For family member medical emergency must
  exhaust all annual and sick leave as appropriate

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Sick Leave Limitations

• Without balance of 80 hours, 40 hours may be used
• With balance of 80 hours, up to 480 hours (12
  weeks) may be used

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Using Donated Leave

• For the approved medical emergency
• To substitute for leave without pay taken as a
  result of the medical emergency
• To liquidate indebtedness on leave advanced for
  the medical emergency
• When approved to care for a family member, to
  arrange and attend the funeral when the medical
  emergency results in the family members death
• Any leave earned on hours worked must be used
  prior to using donated leave

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Set-Aside Leave

• Earned while using donated leave
• Maximum number of set-aside hours
• Full-time 40 sick and annual leave hours
• Part-time average number of hours in weekly
  scheduled tour of duty

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Leave Donors

• FAA employees may
• Donate annual leave and sick leave to approved
  FAA leave recipients
• Donate only annual leave to other federal leave
  recipients
• Not donate to manager
• Other federal leave donors may donate annual
  leave to FAA leave recipients
• Donor names must be kept confidential

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Limits to Donating Leave

• Annual leave
• Up to ½ accrued in leave year
• If use or lose, lesser of ½ accrued or number of
  hours remaining in leave year for which employee
  is scheduled to work and receive pay
• Sick leave
• Full-time employees must maintain 240 hours
  balance
• For those retiring, no more than the number of
  hours remaining in employees scheduled days to
  work.

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Front-Line Manager Responsibilities

• Review/approve/ disapprove absences
• Review/approve/ disapprove application for leave
  recipient/leave donor
• Review and maintain medical documentation
• Terminate from program when medical emergency has
  ended

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Reviewing Leave Recipient Application

• Is there a leave request for 24 or more LWOP
  hours?
• Has the employee submitted medical documentation?
• Response must be issued within 10 workdays.

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Application Approved

• If via on-line intranet system (https//webapps.aw
  p.faa.gov/ovltp), VLTP Coordinator and employee
  receive notice via email
• If paper copy (FAA Form 3600-24 (02/03), VLTP
  Coordinator and employee receive approved form

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Application Disapproved

• Must provide written reasons to employee
• Employee may appeal unfavorable decision

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Reviewing Leave Donor Application

• Does employee have the hours to be donated in
  leave balance?
• Is the employee retiring or separating?
• Is it within the limits?
• Response must be issued within 10 workdays.

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Application Approved

• If via on-line system (https//webapps.awp.faa.gov
  /ovltp), VLTP Coordinator and employee receive
  notice via email
• If paper copy (FAA Form 3600-25 (02/03)), VLTP
  Coordinator and employee receive approved form

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Application Disapproved

• Must provide written reasons to employee
• Employee may appeal unfavorable decision

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Monitoring Medical Emergency

• Must continually monitor leave recipient status
  while in program to ensure that the employee
  continues to be affected by the medical emergency
  and is properly using leave
• May request updated medical documentation when
  needed (not more frequently than every 30 days)

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Termination from Program

• At end of pay period when recipient notifies
  manager medical emergency ended
• At the end of the pay period when manager
  determines the leave recipient is no longer
  affected by the medical condition (required to
  issue written notice and provide an opportunity
  to respond)
• At the end of the pay period in which the leave
  recipients application for disability retirement
  is approved
• The leave recipient is no longer federally
  employed

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References and Contacts

• HRPM LWS 8.12, HROI, Questions Answers
• Contact your servicing Human Resources Office

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Questions?
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