K4 Unit – APP. G: FML-Military Caregiver Leave

APPENDIX G – SIDE LETTER

Family and Medical Leave — Military Caregiver Leave

An eligible employee may take Military Caregiver Leave to care for a family member or next of kin who is a covered service member undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy for a serious injury or illness.

a. Leave Entitlement

An eligible employee is entitled to up to twenty-six (26) workweeks of Military Caregiver Leave during a single 12-month leave period. For purposes of this type of Family and Medical Leave only, a single 12-month leave period is the period beginning the first day an employee takes leave to care for the covered service member and ends twelve (12) months after that date.

Leave is applied on a per-covered service member, per-injury basis. Eligible employees may take more than one period of twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave if the leave is to care for a different covered service member or to care for the same service member with a subsequent serious injury or illness, except that no more than twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave may be taken within any single 12-month period. If an eligible employee does not use all of his/her 26 workweeks of leave entitlement to care for a covered service member during this single 12- month leave period, the remaining part of the 26 workweeks entitlement to care for the covered service member for that serious injury or illness is forfeited.

b. Reduced Schedule or Intermittent Leave

This leave may be taken on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis. If the employee’s need for intermittent or reduced schedule leave is foreseeable based on planned medical treatment, the employee should consult with his/her supervisor and make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment so as to minimize the disruption to the University’s operations. In addition, if the need for intermittent or reduced schedule leave is foreseeable based on planned medical treatment, the University may require the employee to transfer temporarily (during the period when intermittent or reduced schedule leave is required) to an alternative position for which the employee is qualified and that better accommodates recurring periods of leave than the employee’s regular position.

c. Documentation and Certification

Employees may be required to provide a certification completed by an authorized health care provider of the covered service member that provides information necessary to establish entitlement to Military Caregiver Leave. In addition, employees may be required to provide certain information (or have the covered service members provide information) establishing that the service member is a covered service member for purposes of Military Caregiver Leave, his/her relationship with the employee, and an estimate of the leave needed to provide the care.

d. Substitution of Paid Leave Benefits for Military Caregiver Leave

An employee may elect to substitute accrued vacation (or CTO, if applicable) and/or up to twelve (12) workweeks of sick leave for unpaid Military Caregiver Leave. If an employee wishes to take unpaid Military Caregiver Leave and the employee’s vacation accrual balance (or CTO balance, if applicable) is at the maximum” the employee will be required to use at least 10 percent of accrued vacation or CTO prior to taking unpaid Military Caregiver Leave.

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