FMLA

1. FMLA Employer’s Responsibility

2. Logging in

3. Go to Blue Page Click on TACS

4. Click on eRMS Home Page

5. Click on Start eRMS

6. Then click Here

7. Enter Username, your TACS password, Database is eRMS06

8. All leave is to be input through the eRMS system

9. Add Leave

10. Enter employee’s ID number or Last Name – Then click on Find Highlight employee’s name below then click on Select

11. Click on date of requested leave Select Yes to FMLA

12. If employee calls for existing case request their FMLA case number If the employee does not know their case number or if the leave is for a new FMLA case click on Request a new FMLA case then choose condition, then click on save

13. Choose leave type – Click OK

14. FMLA Management To view employee’s FMLAinformation

15. Click on Leave – Then click on FMLA Management

16. To view different FMLA Cases click on arrow next to case Action Status (3 Pending) Action Date From – Through Through date is date documentation is due to FMLA Coordinator

17. Selected Case Long Term condition if checked will send FMLA Coordinator message when leave is applied if through date has expired Case information as entered by FMLA Coordinator Frequency and Duration information Supervisor’s responsibility to track

18. Case selected Action Status Case information Dates not protected as FMLA

19. What’s the importance of asking for the FMLA case # when an employee calls in? Employee’s may have more than one FMLA case on File. Creating new FMLA cases when not necessary is not Cost effective.

20. Employee returns to duty after a short absence (not more than 3 days) and requests their absence to be protected under the FMLA, What should the supervisor do? If the employee was absent for an FMLA reason and the employer did not learn the reason for the absence until the employee’s return (e.g. where the employee was absent for only a brief period) the employee may upon the employee’s return to work, promptly (within two business days of the employee’s return to work) designate the leave retroactively with the appropriate notice to the employee. If the leave is taken for an FMLA reason and the employer was not aware of the reason, and the employee desires the leave be counted as FMLA leave, the employee must notify the employer within 2 business days of returning to work. In the absence of such timely notification by the employee the employee may not subsequently assert FMLA protections for the absence. 29 CFR Ch. V 825.209 (1) As soon as the employee notifies the supervisor of the request for FMLA (within 2 business days of the employee’s return to work) the supervisor must edit the leave in eRMS to reflect FMLA the same day as the request. Once the supervisor has input the leave and changed the designation to FMLA the system will send a message to the fulfillment center located at Topeka, Kansas as well as to the local FMLA Coordinator.

21. Postal employee: Calls their supervisor to request 8 hours leave, the employee continues to call in for 4 consecutive calendar days. What should the supervisor do? The supervisor should make sure the employee has one year of service and the required 1250 work hours in the last 26 pay periods. If the supervisor is unsure he is to call the FMLA Coordinator’s office for assistance. If the employee meets these requirements the supervisor is to edit the leave in the eRMS system to reflect FMLA. In eRMS go to Leave then Leave Management, find the employee and click on the first day of the absence then click on the edit button on the right side, click the radio button yes to change the answer to the question is leave for FMLA. When the screen changes click the radio button to create a new case then click the appropriate category for self or family member save then choose the same leave type the employee asked for then save.

22. An employee has been out for over a week and they’re still calling in requesting FMLA Sick leave The supervisor should send the employee a Notice to Report. What should you do if and when the employee provides you the documentation that you have requested after the notice to report was sent or requested when documentation was deemed necessary for the protection of the postal service? This information must be sent to the FMLA Coordinator’s Office. This may also be the same information that the coordinator is waiting for in order to qualify the employee’s absence as FMLA.

23. FMLA DATA Frequency and Duration It is up to the manager/supervisor to monitor the employee’s frequency and duration of an employee’s FMLA usage for an approved chronic condition on file. To view this information the manager/supervisor must find the employee in the eRMS system then click on the FMLA Data button located on the right side of the screen. You must then identify the correct FMLA approved chronic condition. Information on the condition will be contained in the case comment box. The information for the frequency and duration is located below the comment section. When an employee has breached this time frame you must call your FMLA Coordinator during the employee’s absence.

24. Sick Leave Dependent Care ELM 513 Sick Leave Non-bargaining unit employees, and bargaining unit employees if provided in their national agreements, are allowed to take up to 80 hours of their accrued sick leave per leave year to give care or otherwise attend to a family member (as defined in 515.2) with an illness, injury, or other condition that, if an employee had such a condition, would justify the use of sick leave. ELM 515.2 Definitions The following definitions apply for the purpose of 515: Son or Daughter – biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild, legal ward, or child who stands in the position of a son or daughter to the employee, who isunder 18 years of age or who is 18 or older and incapable of self-care because of mental or physical disability. Parent – biological parent or individual who stood in that position to the employee when the employee was a child. Spouse – husband or wife. Managers and Supervisors: Once an employee has used 80 hours of their sick leave in a leave year the employee is not entitled to use any additional sick leave to give care to a family member. Any additional time needed to care for a family member would be annual leave or leave without pay. Under FMLA this rule remains the same.

25. National Agreements FMLA is not intended to change bargained-for agreements between employer and employees Sick Leave for Dependent Care is a paid leave category separate from FMLA USPS limitation of sick leave for dependent care to 80 hours a postal leave year to care for a qualified family member should be enforced once the 80 hours are exhausted the employee must use annual leave or leave without pay Light duty is separate from FMLA, which does not provide a right to a modified position or another position. All light duty information must be sent to the medical unit to input the information in eRMS and to review Example: An employee needs 160 hours of leave to care for a qualified family member. The employee has provided a complete FMLA Certification and has been FMLA approved for the time needed to care for the family member. How much sick leave dependent care leave is the employee entitled to under FMLA? The employee is only entitled to 80 hours of sick leave dependent care any additional leave would have to be either FMLA Annual leave or FMLA LWOP the employee’s choice. The employee may be entitled to 480 hours of FMLA protected leave but the employer has a restriction on the use of sick leave that can be used during a postal leave year to care for the family member.

26. Supervisor Comments

27. Find the employee, Click on Leave, then click on Supervisor Comments

28. Enter the Title, Change Share column from N to Y, Enter your comments in the space provided. Do Not use eRMS to record your Discussions.

29. When an employee submits medical documentation to the supervisor to support their absence: If the absence is for or related to an FMLA condition the supervisor is to send the documentation to the FMLA Office by mail and they are to call and or email the FMLA Coordinator that documentation for the employee is being sent. If the supervisor is not sure if the information pertains to an FMLA condition then they are send it to the FMLA Coordinator so they can make that determination. If the absence is not for an FMLA condition then the documentation is to be sent to the Medical Unit at (2200 NW 72nd Ave. Miami Fl 33152-9451) so that the documentation may be maintained in the employee’s medical file. Do not make copies and place in the employee’s station file. Medical documentation is not to be maintained in an employee’s file at their work location. All medical documentation is to be maintained at the Medical Unit in the employee’s medical file.

30. When is documentation to be submitted for an employee’s scheduled absence? Documentation for an employee’s requested leave in advance must be provided prior to the start of the requested leave. Example: Postal employee is requesting sick leave (six weeks) for an upcoming surgery as the supervisor you should be provided medical documentation prior to the start of that leave and that documentation must support the time requested by the employee on the submitted 3971 which must be completed with a beginning and an ending date. The 3971 should never be accepted as open ended (no return or ending date). This leave may also be qualified as FMLA you should contact your FMLA Coordinator to discuss the employee’s eligibility and any information that you may have on the employee’s request for leave.

31. An employee gets injured on the job can this also be FMLA? An employee that has an injury on the job may also qualify as an FMLA absence as well. If the injury meets the criteria of an FMLA condition (the employee has 1250 work hours in the last 26 pay periods and has 1 year of service) the supervisor should also enter and code the leave as FMLA. Examples: The injury caused the employee to have an overnight stay in the hospital. The injury has caused the employee to be absent for more than 3 consecutive calendar days.

32. Triggers to code leave as FMLA • Inpatient Hospital Stay / self or family member • Absence of more than 3 consecutive calendar days • Pregnancy / Birth of child / Adoption • Employee requests FMLA during call in • Condition sounds serious to you

33. FMLA Office Location 16000 Pines Blvd. Pembroke Pines, Fl 33082-9654 FMLA Coordinator’s area’s of responsibility: Christopher Powell: Ph# (954) 436-4362 Ft. Lauderdale PO, Hollywood PO, South Florida P&DC, Hialeah, Homestead, Dania, and all of the Key’s Reydel Medina: Ph# (954) 436-4497 Miami PO, Pompano Ranard McPhaul: Ph# (954) 436-4474 Miami General Mail Facility, L&DC, ISC, Ft. Lauderdale P&DC, Miami Beach, and Opa-Locka Fax# (954) 436-4473