Many family-friendly programs exist which make NIST an employer of choice and indicate the Agency's committment to maintaining a family-friendly work environment for its employees. 

For serious family and medical problems, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles employees to 12 weeks of leave without pay within a 12-month period once you have completed 12 months of service.  Click here for more detailed information about this program.

The Voluntary Leave Transfer Program allows Federal employees to donate annual leave to assist other Federal employees who have personal or family medical emergencies and who have exhausted their own leave.  Click here to obtain procedural information for leave donors and recipients.

Sick leave for Family Purposes:  There are several instances where NIST employees may use sick leave for family care, bereavement, and adoption.  Click here for more details.

Other Family-Friendly Options:  As a NIST employee, you are entitled to up to 7 days of paid (administrative) leave each calendar year to serve as a bone-marrow donor.  You are entitled to up to 30 days of paid leave to serve as an organ donor.  This leave is in addition to normal annual and sick leave.

You may schedule and be granted up to 24 hours of leave without pay (LWOP) in a leave year to:

• Attend school and early childhood educational activities directly related to your child's educational advancement.  These could be parent-teacher conferences, meetings with childcare providers, interviews for a new school or childcare facility, participation in volunteer activities that support your child's educational activities, or school-sponsored activities.  (If you don't have children, you may request LWOP for participation in school activities important to the educational advancement of a child, such as tutoring or attending school board meetings.)
• Accompany children to routine medical or dental appointments such as checkups or vaccinations.  Leave without pay for these purposes is in addition to your entitlement to sick leave for family care.
• Accompany elderly relatives to routine medical or dental appointments or other professional services related to the care of the elderly relative.  An elderly relative is one who is related to you by blood or marriage.   Leave without pay for these purposes is in addition to your entitlements to sick leave for family care, and to leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

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