U.S. Office of Personnel ManagementFamily and Medical Leave |
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
ON THE PRESIDENT'S MEMORANDUM ON EXPANDED FAMILY AND
MEDICAL LEAVE POLICIES
Q1. Why is the President issuing this memorandum?
A1. The President is asking Federal
agencies to assist employees further in meeting their work and
family demands. While the President is asking Congress to
enact his legislative proposal to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, he
is also asking agencies to use their currently available
administrative authorities to ensure that employees may schedule
and be granted up to 24 hours of leave without pay for three
purposes:
In addition, the President asks agencies to support employees'
requests to schedule paid time off, such as annual leave, sick
leave, compensatory time off, and credit hours under flexible
work schedules for these family activities when these options are
available to the employee.
Q2. Does the President's memorandum
change existing policies for granting time off to Federal
employees?
A2. Supervisors have discretion to grant employees time off for
the purposes mentioned in the President's memorandum. The new
memorandum is important because it makes clear that the President
wants agencies to grant employees up to 24 hours of unpaid leave
to help employees meet their family demands. The memorandum will
remind agencies--and their front line supervisors--to establish
and maintain a family friendly work environment, and it adds to
the momentum already in place.
Q3. Will the President's April 12 memorandum make a real
difference?
A3. The President's memorandum sends a strong signal to agencies
and supervisors to support and encourage family friendly leave
policies. The memorandum is expected to ensure that time off is
granted for these purposes. It will serve to make supervisors
more sensitive to employees' needs and enhance the ability of
employees to take time off to participate in children's
education, elderly relatives' health needs, and routine family
medical appointments.
Q4. What leave flexibilities are currently available to employees
who need time off from work to care for a family member?
A4. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act
of 1993, covered Federal employees are entitled to a total of
12 administrative workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month
period for (a) the birth of a son or daughter and care of the
newborn; (b) the placement of a son or daughter with the employee
for adoption or foster care; (c) the care of a spouse, son,
daughter, or parent with a serious health condition; and (d) a
serious health condition of the employee that makes the employee
unable to perform the duties of his or her position. (See
Federal Employees Entitlements Under the Family and Medical Leave Act.)
Federal
employees may use a portion of their accrued sick leave each
leave year to care for a family member. (See Sick Leave for
Family Care and Bereavement and Sick Leave to Care for
a Family Member with a Serious Health Condition.)
Employees may request advance annual or sick leave or leave
without pay from their agencies for these purposes.
Federal employees are entitled to use 7 days of paid leave each
calendar year (in addition to annual or sick leave) to serve as a
bone-marrow donor and up to 30 days each calendar year to serve as an organ
donor. (See Bone Marrow and Organ Donation Leave.)
The Federal leave transfer program allows Federal employees to
donate annual leave to other Federal employees who have medical
emergencies and who have exhausted their own leave. Federal leave
banks allow employees to contribute a specified amount of annual
leave yearly to their agency leave bank. Leave bank members with
medical emergencies can withdraw leave from the bank if they
exhaust their own leave. (See Leave Transfer Program
and Leave Bank Program.)
Q5. In what order should the different family friendly leave
policies be used?
A5. There is no certain order for using the various family
friendly leave policies discussed in the President's
memorandum. The employee must consider his or her current
leave balances and determine (1) whether the situation meets the
requirements and obligations of a specific leave program and (2)
which leave policy or program best fits his or her needs.
Employees may now choose from an array of family friendly leave
policies to meet their family and medical needs. For example, if
an employee needs time off from work to accompany his or her
child to a doctor's appointment, he or she may use sick leave. If the use
of sick leave is not an available option, an employee may request
leave without pay or, as available, annual leave, compensatory
time off, or credit hours under flexible work schedules for
purposes of the expanded family friendly leave policies discussed
in the President's memorandum. In
addition, an employee may request advance annual or sick leave
from his or her agency. If the child's condition develops into a
serious health condition, the employee may invoke his or her
entitlement to unpaid leave under the Family
and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and, if appropriate, may choose
to substitute annual leave or sick leave for the unpaid leave. If
the employee is experiencing a personal or family medical
emergency and has exhausted all of his or her available annual
and sick leave, he or she may apply to become a leave recipient
under the agency's leave transfer and/or leave bank programs.
Q6. Under the expanded family friendly leave policies, will an
employee be required to use leave without pay?
A6. No. A supervisor or manager may not require an employee to
use leave without pay for these purposes.
Q7. Do the expanded family friendly leave policies entitle
employees to an additional 24 hours of unpaid leave?
A7. The purpose of the expanded family friendly leave policies
is to provide employees with flexibility to use an additional 24
hours of leave without pay for the purposes outlined in the President's memorandum. However, an
employee does not have an entitlement to leave without pay.
Q8. Can employees use the 24 hours of leave without pay
intermittently (e.g., 1 hour or 1 day at a time)?
A8. Yes. An employee may use the 24 hours of leave without pay
in the same increments as all other leave is granted by his or
her agency.
Q9. Who is an "elderly relative?"
A9. We encourage agencies to permit employees to use leave to
care for an elderly relative who is related by blood or marriage
to the employee who may require daily care or assistance in
making arrangements for housing, meals, telephones, banking
services, and other similar activities.
Q10. The President's memorandum states that employees may take
leave to "participate in school activities directly related
to the educational advancement of a child." What
"activities" are included? Are child care facilities
included?
A10. We encourage agencies to permit employees to participate in
activities, such as parent-teacher conferences (including
meetings with principals, counselors, teaching staff, or child
care providers); school board meetings; tutoring; interviewing
for a new school or child-care facility; and school-sponsored
activities, such as sports and recreation programs, field trips,
class plays, "career day," or other volunteer
activities supporting a child's educational advancement.
"School" refers to an elementary school, secondary
school, Head Start program, or a child care facility.
Q11. How do employees who do not have children benefit from the
expanded family friendly leave policies"
A11. Employees who do not have children may benefit from the
expanded family friendly leave policies by choosing to
participate in school activities directly related to the
educational advancement of a child. These activities may include
attending school board meetings; tutoring students; and
participating in school-sponsored activities, such as sports and
recreation programs, field trips, class plays, "career
day," etc. These activities are important to the educational
advancement of a child.
Q12. Can an agency require medical certification of an employee
who requests time off from work under the expanded family
friendly leave policies to accompany his or her child or an
elderly relative to routine medical or dental appointments? Can
an agency require evidence if an employee requests leave to
participate in school activities or to make arrangements for
housing, meals, telephones, banking services, and other similar
activities for an elderly relative?
A12. Yes to both questions. Agencies have discretionary authority
to require evidence that is administratively acceptable,
including medical certification, as appropriate, from an employee
who requests leave without pay under the new expanded family
friendly leave policies.
Q13. Can an employee use the 24 hours of leave without pay under
the expanded family friendly leave policies for other family
purposes not specified in the President's memorandum--e.g., to
have an estate or yard sale for an elderly relative who is moving
to a retirement or nursing home or to a group setting or to care
for his or her child or elderly relative when the normal care
provider is unavailable?
A13. We encourage agencies to permit employees to use up to 24
hours of leave without pay to participate in school activities,
accompany their children to medical or dental appointments, or to
accompany elderly relatives to medical appointments or other
professional services relating to the care of the elderly
relative. Currently, employees may request time off from work for
family responsibilities. A supervisor may approve an employee's
request to use additional leave without pay or annual leave,
compensatory time off, or credit hours under flexible work
schedules for purposes not specified in the President's
memorandum, such as organizing or holding an estate or yard
sale to sell the belongings of an elderly relative or to care for
his or her child or elderly relative when the normal child care
or elder care provider is sick or otherwise unavailable.
Q14. Can an employee be granted advance annual leave?
A14. Yes. An agency may follow its normal policies for advancing
annual leave for the purposes outlined in the President's memorandum.
Q15. Can an employee use donated annual leave to take time off
from work for the purposes outlined in the President's
memorandum?
A15. No. Under the Federal leave sharing program, an employee may
donate annual leave to other Federal employees who have a
personal or family medical emergency and who have exhausted their
own available annual and sick leave. A leave recipient may use
donated annual leave only for the purpose of the medical
emergency for which the leave recipient was approved. We do not
believe the purposes outlined in the President's
memorandum--i.e., routine medical or dental appointments--are
consistent with the purposes for which donated annual leave may
be used--i.e., medical emergencies.
Q16. Does this memorandum mean, in effect, that an employee is
limited to only 24 hours of leave without pay each year for these
purposes?
A16. No. The President's memorandum
encourages agencies to provide up to 24 hours of leave without
pay each year for these purposes. However, this does not limit or
prohibit an employee from requesting and receiving additional
leave or other time off for school activities, routine family
medical purposes, and elderly relatives' health needs. These
needs can be met through the use of annual leave, compensatory
time off, credit hours under flexible work schedules, or
additional leave without pay.
Q17. What is the difference between "compensatory time
off" and "credit hours?"
A17. Compensatory time off is available for almost all employees
who perform irregular or occasional overtime work. Credit hours
are only available to employees on flexible work schedules that
provide for this feature. Unlike compensatory time off, credit
hours cannot be converted into overtime pay, and the employee is
limited to carrying over no more than 24 credit hours from one
pay period to the next.
Q18. Is an agency required to keep track of how many hours of
leave are used for these purposes?
A18. The President's memorandum does
not require agencies to keep records on the amount of leave
without pay or other time off used for school activities, routine
family medical purposes, and elderly relatives' health needs.
However, an agency may decide to maintain records of leave used
by employees for these purposes.
Q19. Does an employee requesting family friendly leave for one of
the purposes in the President's memorandum
have an entitlement to be granted leave in preference to another
employee who requests leave for other purposes (e.g., car breaks
down, child care or elder care provider is sick, etc.)?
A19. Managers and supervisors have discretionary authority to
approve leave. When granting leave, supervisors must consider the
circumstances of each situation, consistent with current law,
Office of Personnel Management regulations, and agency policies.
Page Updated 6 March 2001