FWS EMS: Handbook

FWS ESP Program

Sick Leave

Sick leave is calculated by multiplying the total number of hours paid by .0334. Sick leave is paid only for medical purposes for enrollees themselves or to attend to an immediate family member. The enrollee's earnings statement in ADP reflects the available balance of sick leave.

Sick Leave is accrued to a maximum of 80 hours at any given time. Once the 80 hours maximum has been reached, no further sick leave will accrue until the balance falls below the 80 hour maximum.

Call the Monitor within 2 hours of start time, when absent or late
Call each day of absence. If absent for 3 or more consecutive days without calling in, separation proceedings may be initiated.
NEW Solutions may request a doctor's release when absent for 5 days or more.

Sick leave hours are non-worked hours and will not be included in any overtime pay calculations.

The code "SICK" should be entered under the "PAY CODE" column on the timesheet, and the hours entered under the "HOURS" column in the ADP timesheet system.

Immediate Family includes spouses, children, daughter/son-in-law, parent, siblings, sister/brother-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, mother/father-in-law, stepparents, stepsiblings, stepchildren, step-grandchildren and domestic partners.

Sick leave remaining at the end of an enrollee's enrollment is not payable to the enrollee, unless specifically required by applicable State law.

Family and Medical Leave

The NEW Solutions Program will follow the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) unless an Enrollee is assigned in a state that has a more liberal law. In these cases, the NEW Solutions Program will follow the more liberal state law.

The FMLA entitles eligible enrollees of covered employers to take job-protected, unpaid leave for specified family and medical reasons. Eligible enrollees are entitled to:

Twelve work weeks of leave in any 12-month period for:
- Birth and care of the enrollee's child, within one year of birth
- Placement with the enrollee of a child for adoption or foster care, within one year of the placement
- Care of an immediate family member (spouse, child, parent) who has a serious health condition
- For the enrollee's own serious health condition that makes the enrollee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job
- Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the enrollee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in the U.S. National Guard or Reserves in support of a contingency operation
Twenty-six workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the enrollee is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of the service member (Military Caregiver Leave)

Eligibility requires enrollment in the NEW Solutions Program for a minimum of one year AND at least 1250 duty hours worked during the 12-month period immediately preceding the request for leave. Sick and vacation hours do not count towards the 1250 duty hours.

Requesting family and medical leave requires enrollees to submit a written request, which includes justification, to the NEW Solutions Program Field Office with a copy to the Monitor. Certification may be required as permitted by the FMLA

E-Timesheets must be submitted during family and medical leave for accurate record-keeping purposes. The number of authorized hours for that day should be entered in the "HOURS" column (the electronic timesheet system will not accept zeros), and sick(SICK), vacation (VACATION), or leave without pay (LWOP) should be selected in "PAY CODE" column on the timesheet

Sick and vacation leave hours (if available) must be used concurrently during the time off for family and medical leave. Once sick and vacation leave have been depleted, the remainder of FML is unpaid.

Health Insurance, for those Enrollees covered under the NEW Solutions Program group health care plan, will continue to be paid.

Failure to return to the NEW Solutions Program assignment at the end of the family and medical leave period may prompt NEW Solutions to initiate separation procedures.

Family and Medical Leave hours are non-worked hours and will not be included in any overtime pay calculations.