Sick Leave for Family Care Purposes/New Provision

In Reply Refer To               August 2, 2000
Mail Stop 601

NOTE TO SUPERVISORS, MANAGERS, AND TEAM LEADERS:  Please ensure that 
employees without access to e-mail receive a copy of this message.


                        MEMORANDUM


To:         U.S. Geological Survey Employees

From:     Robert Hosenfeld      (signed)
               Personnel Officer

Subject:  Sick Leave for Family Care Purposes/New Provision

The regulation allowing use of accrued sick leave for family care purposes 
has been expanded to allow fulltime employees to use up to 12 
administrative work weeks of accrued sick leave each leave year to care 
for a family member with a serious health condition.  Parttime employees 
may now use an amount of sick leave equal to 12 times the average number of 
hours in their scheduled weekly tour of duty for this purpose. 

The Family Friendly Leave Act (FEFFLA) currently allows employees to use 
up to 13 days of sick leave each year for general family care.  Under the 
expanded family care regulations, any sick leave used under FEFFLA will be 
deducted from the 12 week entitlement.  Employees may use a total of 12 
weeks of sick leave each year for family care purposes.

An employee with a balance of less than 80 hours accrued sick leave may 
use up to 40 hours sick leave (or a proportional amount for a part-time 
employee) for general family care or to care for a family member with a 
serious health condition.  However, in order to use additional sick leave 
for family care purposes, an employee must maintain a balance of at least 
80 hours sick leave at all times.

For purposes of the expanded family care regulations, a serious health 
condition includes such illnesses as cancer, heart attack, stroke, severe 
injuries, Alzheimer's disease, pregnancy, and childbirth.  The term 
"serious health condition" is not intended to cover short-term conditions 
for which treatment and recovery are brief.  The common cold, the flu, 
ear aches, upset stomach, headaches, routine dental or orthodontia 
problems, etc., are not serious health conditions unless complications 
arise.

Family member under the expanded family care regulations is defined as:
·  spouse and parents thereof;
·  children, including adopted children;
·  parents;
·  brothers and sisters, and spouses thereof; and
·  any individual related by blood or affinity whose close association 
   with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.

Detailed information about the new regulations for using sick leave to 
care for ill family members and other special Federal leave programs can 
be found by clicking on 
http://www.usgs.gov:8888/ops/hro/benefits/leave.html.  This website 
includes forms for requesting leave, approving restored leave, donating 
leave, and applying to become a leave share recipient. The site also 
includes the current list of U.S. Geological Survey employees 
participating in the Federal Leave Share Program.

The Office of Personnel Management website on leave administration 
includes fact sheets covering a wide range of Federal employee leave rules 
and regulations and can be accessed by clicking on 
http://www.opm.gov/oca/leave/HTML/factindx.HTM and selecting the leave 
categories that are of interest to you.

The Federal Personnel and Payroll System (FPPS) has not yet been updated 
to reflect the change in sick leave.  Employees' time and attendance (T&A) 
should be coded using the hours code 030 (sick leave), until permanent 
FPPS system changes are made.  Also, until FPPS is changed, timekeepers 
and supervisors will be required to manually track the number of hours 
that are used for this type of leave and ensuring that the limits set in 
the regulations are not exceeded.

Please call the employee relations staff in your servicing personnel 
office if you want to discuss the new family care regulations or any other 
leave issues.