APW-ABA Scholarship Program
The 2021 APW-ABA Scholarship Program is now open for applications. Please see the guidelines and application below, or click here.
Deadline May 15, 2021
The letter text to announce this year’s Scholarship Program is below as well.
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Dear President:
Enclosed are the guidelines and application form for the APW-ABA Scholarship Program which is named in honor of long time union activists, Thomas Hartos, Michael Tosches and Eugene Johnson. Feel free to make copies as well as insert into your local publications or on your local web site.
We ask that you insure all applications are filled out completely, paying special attention to the member’s postal employee identification number (EID), so that we may verify ABA membership. All applications MUST be filled out in their entirety.
Please contact our office if you have any questions. Our normal business hours are, Monday thru Friday, 8:00am – 4:00pm EST.
Web Page: http://www.apw-aba.org
Telephone: 603-330-0282
Facsimile: 603-330-0285
Toll Free: 1-800-526-2890
In Union Solidarity,
Wayne D. Maurer, National Director
nationaldirector@spw-aba.org
APW-ABA Scholarship Program Application & Information Packet
New Leave Under the American Rescue Plan (ARPA)
Effective March 12, 2021,theAmerican Rescue Plan Act (Act) provides employees with up to 600 hours of paid Emergency Federal Employee Leave (EFEL). This leave is available to employees beginning on March 12, 2021, and continuing through September 30, 2021—or until the funding established in the Emergency Federal Employee Leave Fund (Fund) for reimbursement is exhausted. The leave is available to eligible employees who are unable to work due to one of eight qualifying reasons as summarized in the chart below:
As a reminder, the Postal Service provides an essential federal government service as part of the nation’s critical infrastructure. Therefore, postal employees are generally not subject to Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation orders related to COVID-19, so employees will generally not be eligible to use EFEL for qualifying reason (1) above. Additionally, no substantially similar condition has been identified that would qualify an employee to use leave for qualifying reason (6) above.
We are continuing to work the issues associated with implementation of these new leave requirements, and we anticipate receiving additional guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which will administer the Fund, in the coming weeks. In the interim, employees seeking to use EFEL should submit a PS Form 3971 indicating for which of the eight qualifying reasons they must take leave, and employees must affirmatively state that they are unable to work because of the qualifying reason.
For now, this leave should be managed and tracked within the Enterprise Resource Management System (eRMS). Timekeepers will be instructed to enter the interim hours code 086-21 in eRMS for all employees, and then verify the Administrative Leave is entered in the appropriate timekeeping system using either hours code 086-21 for City or DACA Code O for Rurals. For immediate reference, attached is the timekeeping quick reference table.
We will update you with additional instructions and guidance as our processes for managing this new leave are developed and implemented. We ask that you share this information with your teams as soon as possible, given that this leave will become available on March 12.
Thank you for your support as we continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of our employees during this challenging time.
For a PDF version of this article, click here.
Colon Cancer Screening Should Start at Age 45
TUESDAY, Oct. 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Average folks should start being screened at age 45 to prevent colon cancer, five years earlier than is now recommended, the nation’s top preventive medicine panel says.APWU – Penalty Overtime Exclusion Period 2020
As a matter of general interest, the “Penalty Overtime Exclusion” period for calendar year 2020 as referenced in Article 8, Sections 4 and 5 of the NALC and APWU National Agreements will begin Pay Period 25-20 – Week 2 (November 28, 2020) and end Pay Period 01-21 -Week 1 (December 25, 2020).
For the full letter from David E. Mills, Manager, Labor Relations Policies and Programs, click here.
Annual Leave Carryover
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Leave – Understanding How Leave Impacts Retirement and TSP Deductions
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provided employees with two additional types of leave: Emergency Paid Sick Leave, and Expanded Family and Medical Leave for child care needs. This leave benefit became effective April 1, 2020, and continues through December 31, 2020.
Since the introduction of the new leave types, the Office of Personnel Management has provided official guidance that leave payments under the FFCRA are not eligible for retirement and Thrift Saving Plan (TSP) deductions.
If you took leave under FFCRA, any deductions withheld for TSP or retirement as a result of FFCRA leave will be refunded to you in pay period 20-2020, retroactive to April 1, 2020. Retirement refunds will show on your October 2, 2020, paycheck. These refunds will not impact creditable service time towards retirement eligibility.
For more information, please click here to download the full announcement.
#Save the Post Office
Q&A: Families First Coronavirus Response Act
As provided under the legislation, the U.S. Department of Labor will be issuing implementing regulations. Additionally, as warranted, the Department will continue to provide compliance assistance to employers and employees on their responsibilities and rights under the FFCRA.
The following document has 79 questions and answers concerning the FFCRA for your information.
Federal Employee Rights – Paid Sick Leave and Expanded Family & Medical Leave FFCRA
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires that Federal government to provide all of its employees with paid sick leave and, for employees who are covered under Title I of the Family and Medical Leave (FMLA), with expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. These provisions will apply from April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.
To read about specifics about eligibility, amounts, and qualifications, please click here to view the pdf document.
Families First Coronavirus Recovery Act
Two new leave types are now extended to postal employees.
- Up to 80 hours of Emergency Paid Sick Leave for specific qualifying reasons.
- Public Health Emergency Leave, which amends the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), allowing employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave related to the closure of a minor child’s school or place of care due to COVID-19.
The law went into effect on April 1, 2020, and covers absences from that day forward. If you were off work prior to April 1st, you cannot retroactively claim benefits under the new law. However, you can claim benefits for any qualifying absences from April 1 through December 31, 2020.
No matter your length of service or status as a career or non-career employee you are eligible for the Emergency Paid Sick Leave. If you meet one of these qualifying reasons:
You will be paid up to 80 hours at your regular rate of pay up to a maximum of $511 per day (APWU represented employees do not go over this limit) if:
- You are subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolated order related to COVID-19 (state and local “shelter in place” or “stay at home” orders are not considered “quarantines”).
- You have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19.
- You are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and are seeking a medical diagnosis.
The following reasons allow you to receive ⅔ of your regular rate of pay, up to $200 per day, for the following qualifying reasons:
- You are caring for an individual subject to an order described in numbers 1 and 2 above.
- You are caring for your child under the age of 18 whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) due to COVID-19 related reasons.
- You are experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
FMLA is expanded if the employee meets qualifying condition five (5) above. The following regulations apply:
- An employee only needs 30 days of employment to qualify for expanded benefits.
- The usual 12-weeks of FMLA is not expanded.
- The first two weeks are not paid; but you can use Leave Without Pay (LWOP), sick or annual leave you have accrued to cover the two-week period. You may also use the 80 hours of Emergency Paid Sick Leave to cover the first two weeks; but if used here, it would not be able to use it for any other qualifying reason or combination of reasons.
- The remaining 10-weeks of FMLA for the indicated qualifying reasons is paid leave – without charge to any contractual paid leave available to the employee; but it is paid at 2/3 the regular rate of pay with a cap of $200 per day and $12,000 for the ten weeks.
- All of the regular FMLA rules and benefits remain unchanged when FMLA is taken for any reason other than qualifying reasons five above.
Employees who qualify and use these types of leave may not be removed, disciplined, or discriminated against for lawfully exercising their rights to the emergency paid sick leave or the expanded family and medical leave act.
The APWU reached agreement with the USPS that using this type of leave cannot be considered when a new employee is to be separated on during their 90-day probation (career employee) or first 120-calendar days of work or 90 days worked by PSEs. Anyone who believes this has happened should contact their local union stewards or officers.
Employees who wish to use this leave are obligated to give notice to management that they will be absent for one of the qualifying reasons and request Emergency Sick Leave or the Public Health Emergency Leave (expanded FMLA) benefits. You would request this leave through your normal leave request procedures by either calling the normal phone number or submitting a PS Form 3971 directly to your supervisor or manager. On the form 3971 for type of leave you are requesting, check “other” and write in “Code 077-19” for reason 1-3. In the remarks section write “Emergency Sick Leave–Self”. For reasons 4-6 check the other box and write in “Code 081-19” and in the remarks section write “Emergency Sick Leave–Other.” If you call in and request this leave make sure you verify your PS 3971 upon your return before signing. You should also verify your pay stubs to ensure you received the proper type of leave.
As with all FMLA related absences you will be required to provide documentation consistent with Department of Labor regulations and the Act. Medical documentation for reasons 1-3 should not be given to your supervisor or manager but rather provided to your local medical unit or the FMLA coordinators department at the Human Resources Shared Service Center. Medical confidentiality policies and procedures still apply. For qualifying reasons 4-6 one of the following should be provided 1) a notice of closure from a state/county/city school system or your private school system; and/or 2) notice of closure from your daycare center; and/or 3) written statement from the employee stating the need for leave due to the school closure, daycare closure, or unavailability of the usual caregiver of the minor child should accompany the PS Form 3971.
We expect the Postal Service to be constantly updating the processes that will need to be put in place to implement this leave. We continue to have regular discussions with the Postal Service on these new provisions and when we receive updates additional developments we will provide them to you.