Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees eligible letter carriers up to 12 weeks of leave each postal leave year, for:

  • A new child in the family—by birth, by adoption or by placement in foster care;
  • Caring for a family member with a serious health condition;
  • The employee’s own serious health condition that prevents him or her from performing the job, or
  • Qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that employee’s family member is on or has been notified of “covered active duty” in the Armed Forces.

The FMLA also guarantees eligible letter carriers up to 26 weeks of leave in a single 12-month period to care for a “covered servicemember” with a “serious injury or illness” if that servicemember is their spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin.

The FMLA guarantees time off, whether paid or unpaid. The type of leave taken depends on the reasons for the leave, an employee’s earnings and the usual postal leave regulations. There are eligibility criteria, medical certification guidelines and other detailed rules governing letter carrier rights to FMLA leave.

FMLA forms can be found here https://www.nalc.org/workplace-issues/contract-administration-unit/body/FMLA_forms_8-30-22-1.pdf Make sure you fill out the correct form for your situation. For example, if it’s your serious health condition fill out form 1, if it’s your family member’s serious health condition fill out form 2.

Once you and your doctor have filled out the forms you can mail them to:

HRSSC FMLA Western

PO Box 970910

Greensboro, NC 27497

You can also fax them to 651-456-6071

If you have questions about FMLA you can call the Human Resources Shared Services Center (HRSSC) at 1-877-477-3273

November 24, 2015 – The national parties have reached agreement on a jointly-developed summary overview of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).  This document (M-01866) provides the mutual understanding of the national parties on issues related to leave covered by the FMLA.  It fully replaces and updates the FMLA language agreed upon and contained in previous editions of the NALC-USPS Joint Contract Administration Manual (JCAM).