The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is a United States labor law allowing an employee to take unpaid leave due to illness or to care for a sick family member. The law recognizes the growing needs of balancing family and work obligations and promises numerous protections to workers.
Generally, the Act ensures that all workers are able to take extended leaves of absence from work to handle family issues or illness without fear of being terminated from their jobs by their employers or being forced into a lower job upon their return.
The Act allows for an employee to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if they have worked 1250 hours in a 12 month period.
Like teachers and firefighters; Flight Attendants have had an uphill battle in being recognized as full time employees under the Act due to how their hours of work are calculated. AFA-CWA has made it a legislative priority to ensure that all Flight Attendants are covered by the Family Medical and Leave Act and are afforded all it's protections. AFA would much rather legislate than negotiate these protections however, until congress acts on this issue we need to ensure that we have the best possible contractual language in place on FMLA.
Under the terms of the AWA/AFA contract, America West Flight Attendants qualify for FMLA protected leave if they have been employed by the company for 12 months and have 625 credit hours of work over the previous year.
Under the USA/AFA contract, US Airways Flight Attendants need the full 1250 hours calculated by duty hours worked to qualify. US Airways Flight Attendants can qualify for a Personal Care Leave (PCL) that is similar to FMLA if they have worked 450 credited hours in the previous 12 months. However, a PCL restricts intermittent leave requests and is denied should the flight attendant need less than 5 days off.
AFA negotiators proposed to the company a progressive and forward-thinking FMLA section that combined East and West leave policies into a comprehensive FMLA package that would benefit our members.
Do not stand on the sidelines on this important issue. Improving FMLA protections for Flight Attendants at US Airways is sorely needed. Diminishment of these protections is not an option!
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