Delivering information when you need it most. January 1998 Vol. 1 No. 4 Page 10

PTFs and More Sick Leave (Ed Note: Keep in mind these question and answers are taken from publications over 10 years ago. While most if not all of them are still applicable today, there might have been some minor changes to these decisions.)

Q: May management require an employee to use all accrued annual leave before being advanced sick leave? A: No. Section 513.511 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual provides, in part: "sick leave may be advanced whether or not employees have annual leave to their credit." Q: May a part-time flexible carrier who has been credited with 40 hours or more of a paid service (work, leave, or a combination of work and leave) in a service week be granted annual leave or sick leave during the remainder of that service week? A: No. The part-time flexible carrier will be paid only for hours actually worked after he has been credited with 40 hours or more of paid service in a service week. Absences in such cases are charged and treated as non-duty time, not chargeable to paid leave of any kind. (Reference: Employee and Labor Relations Manual-Section 512.523) Q: Is a part-time flexible employee who calls in sick guaranteed eight hours of sick leave for that day? A: No. Section 513-421b of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual provides that a part-time employee will be paid sick leave equal to the number of hours the employee was scheduled to work. That section further provides that "if a dispute arises as to the number of hours the part-time flexible would have been scheduled to work, the schedule will be considered to have been equal to the average hours worked by other part-time flexible employees in the same work location on the day in question."

Q: Does an employee forfeit accumulated sick leave at the time a disability retirement application is approved by the Office of Personnel Management? A: No. Accumulated sick leave is not forfeited; rather, it is used up before the employee switches to disability retirement annuity payments. Section 513.822 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual provides that in such circumstances: "sick leave is granted at the rate of eight hours per day, 40 hours per week or 80 hours per pay period until the employee's sick leave is exhausted." Q: If an employee does not have enough sick leave to cover an approved sick leave request, may management automatically charge the balance to annual leave? A: No. Section 513.61 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual provides: "if sick leave is approved, but the employee does not have sufficient sick leave to cover the absence, the difference is charged to annual leave or leave without pay at the employee's option." Q: May management adopt a local policy which requires that all requests for sick leave be supported by medical documentation? A: No. The decision to require medical documentation must be made on a case-by-case basis, with consideration given to the circumstances present in each individual situation. Contract Talk: Sick Leave Explained, May, 1985, The Postal Record

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