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FMLA PROBLEMS CONTINUE As any employee who has attempted to apply for Family Medical Leave surely knows by now, Postal management will stop at nothing to make the application process as cumbersome and time consuming as possible. The purpose of this document is to offer advice to employees regarding FMLA. Current Postal positions which are being used to deter the use of FMLA: v Requiring that requests for FMLA must be in conjunction with an absence when they are based on a chronic heath condition requiring intermittent leave.v Determining that your submission for FMLA (Form WH-380) is incomplete, forcing you to return to your doctor time and time again before approval is given.v Determining that a doctor must determine the possible frequency for intermittent leave even if the doctor believes the frequency is indeterminable.v Supervisors failing to determine if an absence is FMLA related or not unless expressly requested.v Requiring that employees provide updated medical information on the original WH-380 when they determine the request is incomplete. This is done even though management retains the original and gives a copy to the employee to take it the doctor.v Data is on the wrong line within a form.The bottom line is management has taken this benefit and swaddled it with so much red-tape that FMLA offers no real benefit to the workers of the Postal Service, only a nightmare. An employee has no obligation to ever request or even mention FMLA, the onus is on management to determine if an absence is FMLA related and annotate it as such. Failure to do so is a violation of the law. How can an employee deal with this mentality? The union’s opinion is: v If you insist on completing a WH-380 for any reason, ensure that your doctor has completed every portion of the forms before turning it in.v Inform your doctor that the Postal Service will not accept unpredictable as a response to the frequency and duration on form WH-380. Further let your doctor know that - comically enough - the Postal Service will accept an annotation that indicates that the employee may miss 3 to 5 days per week.v Only complete and submit WH-380’s for foreseeable absence such as surgery or birth of a child. When the absence is foreseeable and you do not apply management may deny the request for up to 30 days.v Medical conditions requiring intermittent leave usage should not be applied for.v When the need for intermittent leave arises simply notify management of the reason for your absence. This explanation should be sufficient for your supervisor to determine if the absence qualifies under FMLA.Examples:
When you provide an explanation of your absence sufficient for the supervisor to determine if the absence is FMLA related, and that request is either disapproved, or marked as "approved not FMLA", you should immediately file a grievance as well as a complaint with the wage and hours division.
Places to appeal your problems and concerns to which relate to FMLA (those in bold are absolute necessities in order to protect your rights):
Thank you in advance for your attention to the above, David E Ross President Local 321 NPMHU |