FMLA - Federal Employees

Rockie

My brother works for the US Postal Service and his wife is expecting in late April. She will need his assistance for a couple of weeks after the birth of the baby.

The US Postal Service allows sick leave to care for family members; he was told if he requested FMLA, he would have to use his vacation, not his sick leave. He would rather use sick leave for this purpose than to take his vacation.

I would assume that this sick time should also be counted towards FMLA. Is that correct? Should he be forced to use his vacation vs. paid sick time if he requests FMLA?

I am not familiar with the workings of the US government in cases of requesting FMLA.

Can any of you give me some guidance here?

Thanks

juju

I'm not sure how government employers handle this, but we have a policy that employees must use all available sick time first (before vacation, personal, etc) if the FMLA is for their own serious health condition. If it's for the birth of a child or a dependent's serious health condition, they must use their vacation first before using sick.

vic

My husband is a retired postal employee and they have a lot of union regulations. Your brother needs to check with his union steward.

AnneLa

We require our employees to use all accrued sick and vacation time when out on FMLA.

Rockie

Thanks Vic. I hope they know more than the HR people did.