The Postal Service wants to help youunderstand Emergency Federal Employee Leave(EFEL), a new leave category that provides workerswith leave related tothe coronaviruspandemic.EFELleave is availableto youthrough Sept. 30, or until the federalfund to reimburseagencies for the cost of this leave is exhausted. All Emergency Federal Employee Leaveis conditional on money being available in thefund to reimburse the Postal Service for the cost of leave.Youmust substitute with other available paid leave,or use leave without pay,to repay the Postal Servicefor the cost of any Emergency Federal Employee Leavehours for which it is not reimbursed. Youshould also know that your Emergency Federal Employee Leavehours will be subtractedfrom thecreditable service used to computeyourfederal civilian retirement annuities. The law imposes limits on the amount of this emergency leave anemployee may take,and on the compensation an employee may receive in a single pay period for Emergency Federal Employee Leavehours.Thequalifying reasons include seeking a medical diagnosis when suffering from COVID-19 symptoms, quarantiningor isolatingunder a medicalprovider’s orders, andothers.To find the full list of qualifying reasons, go to the COVID-19 Employee Resources pageon LiteBlue, and review the list on the Employee Notification and Leave Request Form. Postal employees who are seeking to use Emergency Federal EmployeeLeavemust submitthree separateforms:•PS Form 3971, Request for or Notification ofAbsence, indicating Emergency Federal Employee Leaveand for whichof the qualifying reasons they must take leave; •COVID-19 Emergency Federal Employee Leave Employee Notification and Leave Request Form; •and anEmployee Agreement in Connection with Emergency Federal Employee Leave, provided under Section 4001of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Any employee who has used Emergency Federal Employee Leaveprior tobeing notified of the document requirements isrequiredto supply the above documents retroactively.For moreinformation aboutEmergency Federal Employee Leave—includingthe forms you’ll need to complete—go to the COVID-19 Employee Resources page on LiteBlue.You’ll need your employee identificationnumber and password to log in.You can find the Emergency Federal Employee Leave page by looking under Hot Topics onthe LiteBlue home page.Thank you for listening, and for all you do every day.
Reference: www.npmhu.org
