Annual
leave is
provided to employees for paid time off from regularly scheduled work hours.
The charts below show how much annual leave is accrued for full-time and
part-time employees. Annual leave for full-time employees is credited at the
beginning of the leave year, while annual leave for part-time employees is
accrued in units of 20, 13, or 10 hours worked. Military service time (in most
cases) counts towards USPS service time for determining annual leave per year.
(For example: If you served four years in the U.S. military prior to your
employment with the USPS your initial annual leave amount would be in the 3-15
year category).
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Full-Time Employees |
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Your Rights Under the Family and
Medical Leave Act of 1993
From the
FMLA requires covered employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to "eligible" employees for certain family and medical reasons. Employees are eligible if they have worked for a covered employer for at least 1 year, and for 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months, and if there are at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
REASONS
FOR TAKING LEAVE: Unpaid leave must be granted for any of the following reasons:
1. to care for the
employee's child after birth or placement for adoption or foster care;
2. to care for the
employee's spouse, son or daughter, or parent, who has a serious health
condition; or
3. for a serious health
condition that makes the employee unable to perform the employee's job.
At the employee's or
employer's option, certain kinds of paid leave may be substituted for unpaid
leave.
ADVANCE NOTICE
AND MEDICAL CERTIFICATION: The employee may be required to provide advance leave notice
and medical certification. Taking leave may be denied if requirements are not
met.
1. The employee
ordinarily must provide 30 days advance notice when the leave is "foreseeable."
2. An employer may
require medical certification to support a request for leave because of a
serious health condition, and may require second or third opinions (at the
employer's expense) and a fitness for duty report to return to work.
JOB BENEFITS AND PROTECTION
1. For the duration of FMLA leave, the
employer must maintain the employee's health coverage under any group health
plan.
2. Upon return from
FMLA leave, most employees must be restored to their original or equivalent
positions with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms.
3. The use of FMLA
leave cannot result in the loss of any employment benefit that accrued prior to
the start of an employee's leave.
UNLAWFUL ACTS
BY EMPLOYERS: FMLA
makes it unlawful for any employer to:
1. interfere with,
restrain, or deny the exercise of any right provided under FMLA.
2. discharge
or discriminate against any person for opposing any practice made unlawful by
FMLA or involvement in any proceeding under or relating to FMLA.
ENFORCEMENT:
1. The U.S.
Department of Labor is authorized to investigate and resolve complaints of
violations.
2. An eligible employee
may bring a civil action against an employer for violations.
- FMLA does not affect
any Federal or State law prohibiting discrimination, or supersede any State or
local law or collective bargaining agreement which provides greater family or
medical leave rights.
You can
have your "serious health condition" classified under FMLA if certain
conditions are met. The advantage to you for FMLA classification is that leave
taken for a "serious health condition" does not count against you for
disciplinary purposes. You should have your health provider complete form
WH-380 (see link below) for a "serious health condition" that
involves one of the following. (Submit completed form WH-380 to your immediate
supervisor.)
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The above
is a synopsis of WH-380. The complete form, which contains complete
"serious health condition" categories, is available online at the
Department of Labor. Click here!
The Adobe
Acrobat Reader is required (.pdf format). |
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Understanding Flexible Spending Accounts: |
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If you have health care expenses not covered by your health
insurance (like doctor and dentist visits, vision care, etc.) you can use
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) to get a tax break
for those expenses. You contribute money from your paychecks to an FSA, which
is an account that allows you to cover your eligible health care expenses
throughout the year with tax-free money. Whatever you contribute isn't
subject to Federal income tax, Social Security tax, or Medicare tax. Since
you get a tax break each payday, it's cheaper to pay for your health care
expenses through an FSA. Additionally, there is also a Dependent Care FSA
which allows you to get the same tax breaks on dependent care (day care) for
your eligible children, or for elder care. |
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How FSAs work: |
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First, you must estimate your yearly health care expenditures not covered by your health insurance. For example, last year you spent $500 on health plan deductibles, $100 for co-payments, $200 for prescriptions, $300 on eyeglasses, and $200 at the dentist's office - that's $1,300. Assume that you will spend the same amount this coming year. You enroll in the Health Care FSA for $1,300 during FSA Open Season. Beginning in Pay Period 1 of 2002 you'll have $50 automatically withheld from each paycheck ($50 x 26 pay periods in one year = $1,300). That $50 per pay period is not subject to Federal income tax, Social Security tax, or Medicare tax. So you'll be paying taxes on $50 less income than if you paid the additional health care expenses out of your pocket. Whenever you
have an eligible health care expense, you send in a claim form with proof of
your actual out-of-pocket cost to the |
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Dependent Care FSA: |
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The Dependent Care FSA is similar (but separate). First, you must estimate what you're going to spend next year on dependent care. Then you sign up to contribute that amount to your Dependent Care FSA. For example,
you expect to pay $3,250 next year for day care for your 4-year old son. You
enroll in the Dependent Care FSA for $3,250 during FSA Open Season. Beginning
in Pay Period 1 of 2002 you'll have $125 automatically withheld from each
paycheck ($125 x 26 pay periods in one year = $3,250). If you're in the 27%
Federal tax bracket and you're covered by FERS, your tax rate is 27% Federal
+ 6.2% Social Security + 1.45% Medicare = a tax rate of 34.65%. So $125 would
go into your Dependent Care FSA each payday, but your paycheck would only go
down by $82, because you'd be saving $43 in taxes ($125 x 34.65% = $43). By
the end of the year you'd save over $1,126 in taxes. |
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Eligible Health Care FSA expenses: |
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Up to $2,600 of eligible out-of-pocket health care expenses (not covered by insurance) for you and your family if you are a bargaining unit employee and up to $5,000 if you are a nonbargaining unit employee. Expenses include: |
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You
cannot use a Health Care FSA to pay health insurance premiums. However,
deductions from your paycheck for health insurance premiums are already
tax-free under your health benefits program. |
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Eligible Dependent Care FSA expenses: |
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Up to $5,000 of dependent care (day care) expenses for your eligible children, or for elder care or day care for your adult dependents, because you (and your spouse if you're married) are working. Expenses include: |
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More Information: |
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Enrollment: Once you enroll, your FSA contribution amounts are set for the year. However, if you have certain events (like marriage or divorce) you may change your FSA contribution amounts in keeping with the event. Taxes: There's one catch in regards to taxes. Any FSA money you haven't used, you lose. (You have an extra 6 months after the calendar year to file your FSA claims.) Restrictions: Health Care FSA money can only be used for health care expenses and Dependent Care FSA money can only be used for dependent care expenses. More information: |
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FSA Tax Savings Estimator |
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FERS EMPLOYEES (and CSRS Offset Employees) |
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CSRS EMPLOYEES |
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Source: FSA LF1 (November 2001) |
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Health Benefits: The Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP), administered by the Office of Personnel Management, is among the most generous and popular of all postal benefit plans. Depending on the employee's craft and selected health care plan, the USPS pays from 71% to about 88% of the premium. Virtually all career USPS employees (and eligible family members) are covered by the FEHBP. Employees that are not eligible (with certain exceptions) include those serving in a temporary position lasting less than a year (including Casual and Temporary Employees, Substitute Rural Carriers, and Rural Carrier Associates). Other exclusions include non-citizens and employees paid on a contract or fee basis including contract job cleaners and contract carriers. Several types of plans
are available, including the Service
Benefit Plan (available nationwide), Employee Organization Plans
(available through employee organizations such as labor unions), and Comprehensive Medical Plans (group
practice plans/HMOs) available regionally. You must consider your individual
and family situation in deciding which health plan is best for you and your
family. |
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For more information about your health benefits please consult the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) at USPS.com. Click here! |
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Observed Holidays a. New Year’s Day - January 1. Memorial Day of 2002 will be the first holiday on which mail handlers, if they choose, can take advantage of the new holiday leave provisions that are now part of Article 11 of the National Agreement. Under these new provisions, full-time and part-time regular employees may elect to receive up to eight hours of annual leave instead of holiday leave pay. In particular, under the new contract language, eligible employees (which means regular employees who are in a pay status "the last hour of the employee's scheduled workday prior to or the first hour of the employee's scheduled workday after the holiday") who work any part of their holiday or the day designated as their holiday may choose to receive additional annual leave instead of additional pay for working on the holiday. The annual leave option is available whether or not the employee volunteers or is required to work on his/her holiday or day designated as his/her holiday. If the employee elects to receive additional annual leave instead of additional holiday pay, the appropriate payment for hours that are actually worked on the holiday will still be paid. But holiday leave hours will not be paid, and instead the employee's annual leave balance will be adjusted by the number of hours to which the employee would be entitled (8 hours for full-time employees; up to 8 hours, depending on regular schedule, for part-time regular employees). Because the new leave will be credited as annual leave, it will be subject to the usual rules for using annual leave and/or losing annual leave if the employee is over the maximum leave carryover at the end of the leave year. Mail handlers who want to choose annual leave instead of holiday leave
pay must use Form 3971 to notify management of their intent. Until
modifications to Form 3971 are finalized, employees should (1) check the
block labeled "Other" under "Type of Absence" and (2) write
the words "Elect Annual Leave in lieu of The employee's request (Form 3971) must be signed and dated by the
supervisor, who will keep the original for recordkeeping purposes and give a
copy to the employee. Until payroll changes are finalized, the additional
annual leave hours will not appear on the employee's annual leave balances.
The leave will be available for use, however, the pay period following the
holiday, subject to normal leave approval procedures. Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions about these new provisions: Q: Does it make any difference how many hours
an employee works on the holiday? |
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Injury Compensation Program: All USPS employees are covered by the Federal Employee's Compensation Act (FECA). The program is administered by the Office of Workers' Compensation (OWCP) - United States Department of Labor. FECA entitles employees that have suffered a job-related disability to: |
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For more
information about injury compensation please consult the Employee and Labor
Relations Manual (ELM) at USPS.com. Click here! |
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The following links also have information about injury compensation: |
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Life Insurance: The Office of Personnel
Management administers the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program.
Nearly all USPS employees receive Basic Life Insurance coverage,
however, there are some exceptions. Substitute Rural Carriers, Casual or
Temporary Employees (including Rural Carrier Associates) generally are
excluded from the program. Full-time employees are covered by an amount of
basic insurance based on their annual basic pay, while part-time employees
are covered by an amount of basic insurance based on multiplying their basic
hourly rate. Below, you will find information about your FEGLI insurance
benefits. (Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.) |
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Basic Life (Free - for postal employees) |
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Your basic life insurance coverage amount depends on your annual basic pay (excludes COLA). Here's how to figure your total Basic Life Insurance: |
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Example: |
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Extra Benefit: |
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Age |
Factor |
Age |
Factor |
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0-35 |
2.0 |
41 |
1.4 |
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36 |
1.9 |
42 |
1.3 |
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37 |
1.8 |
43 |
1.2 |
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38 |
1.7 |
44 |
1.1 |
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39 |
1.6 |
45 |
0.0 |
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40 |
1.5 |
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