Every year, employees from every field take leaves for one or more reasons. The federal sectors are known to be more lenient than the private corporate sectors in this regard. And the USPS (United States Postal Service) is one such generous employer. They have a leave of absence policy that grants an employee leaves for different reasons. Read this article to know all the details of the USPS leave of absence policy. Let us know about “USPS Leave Of Absence Policy”
The employees of USPS can take a leave of twelve work weeks combined in one leave year. This benefit is extended to all full-time, part-time, and regular employees except those who are on contract. Everyone’s leave days are tracked by postal officials.
What Is The USPS Leave Of Absence Policy?
The USPS administers a leave program to run the postal service smoothly keeping the welfare of every employee in mind. There are different types of leaves depending on the reason. Leaves can be paid and unpaid. And all the employees including temporary employees in rural duties. Casual employees or employees who work on a fee or contractually don’t come under the leave program.
Every employee has to fill out the PS form 3971 and get it approved by seniors to be eligible for a leave. If someone takes leave without filling out the form or if it is not approved, it is called Unscheduled leave. And employees are recommended to avoid those.
The Reasons For Leave Of Absence
The USPS has different categories depending on the reasons, for which an employee can ask for a leave. The pay, terms and conditions, and accrued leave per leave period are different for each.
- Sick Leave – Sick leaves are granted to employees who are unable to perform their duties due to illness, injury, confinement, medical reasons (medical treatment or checkup), or pregnancy of their own or their family members. Employees can use 80 hours of sick leave per year for this reason.
- LWOP (Leave Without Pay) – This leave is granted to employees for the work hours they should get paid. An installation head or a district manager can approve this type of leave if the employee cites the proper reason and will return after the approved period ends.
- Family Care or Illness of Employee Leave – Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), employees can request this paid leave if they have worked at least 1,250 hours during a calendar year.
- Court–Related Service Absence – The USPS allows some of its employees, paid leaves for court visits.
- Paid Military Leave – If an employee of USPS is a part of the national armed forces, he may get leaves on his workdays without a decrease in payment.
- Holiday Leave – 11 days are considered holidays in the USPS. Employees get 11-holiday leaves per year.
- Administrative Leave – Department heads may grant employees paid leaves that are not annual or LWOP for uncontrollable situations.
How To Fill Up The Request Form?
If any employee takes a leave of less than three days, he may not need to submit any request form. But he has to explain the reasons for his absence to his supervisor.
If an employee wants to take leave he has to submit the PS form 3971 (Request for or Notification of Absence) along with documentation. He can take leave once it is approved. In case of emergency, if someone takes leave without submitting the form, they have to do it within two days of returning to the workplace.
If someone is denied the leave or fails to present the form within a given time, their leave would be considered AWOL (Absent without leave). And they may have to submit compensation for the work hours they missed. If they also fail to do that, the due will be deducted from future payouts.
Accrual Of Each Leave
- Employees earn or accrue different times for their leaves per every 26-period leave year. The hours vary according to the seniority of the post and the time of service.
- Full-time employees get
- Four hours of sick leave per every biweekly (13 days) pay period.
- 480 hours of FMLA leave or 1046 hours if their family member is a service member.
- Non-bargaining, non-executive full-time employees get 3 hours of sick leave per every biweekly (13 days) pay period.
- Part-time employees get
- 1 hour of sick leave per every 20-hour unit service. The maximum one can earn per leave year is 104 hours.
- 12 (or 26 for service member care) times of their normal workweek hours for family member care.
- Non-bargaining, non-executive part-time employees get 1 hour of sick leave for every 26.66-hour units of service with a maximum of 78 hours per leave year.
Conclusion
The USPS has covered almost all the bases for its employees regarding leave. And they provide well-paid leaves as well. So, it is no wonder that employees are happy with this leave of absence policy. The terms and conditions of the leaves are given on their website in detail. So, you can visit their website for further knowledge.
FAQ
- What happens if a person retires or dies during his leave period?
If someone retires due to mental or physical disability to continue working, they are granted sick leave of 80 hours per pay period with or without pay until their leave exhausts. And if someone dies, their leave days dissolve. And at the time of death, the beneficiary would get any remaining payment.
- Can someone use two types of leaves at once?
No, one cannot combine two types of leaves. Suppose, someone is called to the court during their annual leave. Then their annual leave will be canceled and treated as court leave.
- Are LWOP and AWOL the same?
No, they are not the same. A supervisor approves LWOP, whereas AWOL is an unapproved leave.
