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The Full Story

FMLA

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What do you need to know about FMLA and applying for it at BNSF.

SMART - TD
Local 0643
Family and
Medical 
Leave
Act

What is FMLA?

  • Up to 12 Weeks of UNPAID Leave

    • Medical Leave- Serious Health Condition

    • Family Leave- Care for family with serious health conditions

    • Bonding Leave- For birth or adoption of a child

    • Military Leave- "qualifying exigency" arising out of a covered spouse, child, or parent's deployment to active military duty 

Who is covered by FMLA?

  • Work for as covered employer

    •  Private employers with 50 or more employees

    • All public employees

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  • You are an eligible employee if....

    • You have at least 12 months of service and

    • You have worked 1250 hours in the 12 months prior to the beginning of the leave

    • Vacation time, FMLA time does not go towards 1250 hrs

How does BNSF handle FMLA?

  • Employer choice on how to calculate 1250 hours

    • BNSF uses a rolling backward calendar

    • Previous 12 months immediately prior to leave

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  • Employer chooses how to count intermediate time

    • BNSF uses an hour as the smallest time increment leave is calculated

    • BNSF can use time that turn used against FMLA time

    • From time your turn went on duty to time your trip tied up

    • Return trip counts as well assuming you haven't been called

    • Does not count time worked against FMLA

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  • BNSF can not use paid leave time as part of your FMLA

    • 2008 Special Board of Adjustment Award about Personal Leave Agreements

How does BNSF handle FMLA?

  • How do I know how many FMLA hours I get?

    • Take total number of hours of worked in the previous 12 months

    • Divide that by the 52 weeks in the year

    • Multiply that by 12 for 12 weeks of FMLA

 

  • Example:

    • 190 hrs per month comes to 2280 hrs for 12 months

    • Divide that by 52 weeks comes to 43.8 hrs

    • Multiply that by 12 FMLA weeks

    • Comes to 526 FMLA hours

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  • BNSF must (by law) inform you of your hours available when asked.

How does BNSF handle FMLA?

  • Individual lays off FML from 4/21-04/24

    • Turn goes out on H-GALLIN 2140 on 4/21

      • Turn ties up 0905 on 4/22 (11hrs 25min)

    • Turn called AFHT on 4/23 0030 on C-NAMOTL

      • Turn ties up GAL at 1210 on 4/23 (11hrs 40min)

    • Turn called on 4/24 at 0348 for H-GALCEI

      • Turn ties up AFHT 4/24 at 1205 (8hrs 17min)

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  • Employee marks up before return trip

  • Total FMLA: 31 hrs 22min (11hrs 25min + 11hrs 40min + 8hrs 17min)

What is a serious health condition?  

  • Any physical or mental condition that meets the following criteria:

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1. Inpatient Care (includes any overnight stay in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility and any period of incapacity or treatment related to such a stay)

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2. Continuing treatment by health care provider

  • Incapacity for more than 3 consecutive days

  • Plus two or more in-person visits to a healthcare provider within 30 days of the first day of incapacity 

  • Incapacity of more than 3 consecutive days

  • Plus one in-person visit 7 days of the first day of incapacity

  • Plus a regimen of continuous treatment​​​​​

 

3. Pregnancy or Parental Care

  • This can include brief periods of incapacity that do  not include a visit to a health care provider 

  • Can be used for routine parental care appointments

  • Children up to 17

 

4. Chronic serious health conditions

  • chronic conditions is defined as

    • requiring periodic visits (twice a year) to HC provider

    • continues over extended period of time

    • causes episodic periods of incapacity

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5. Permanent or long-term conditions

  • includes incapacitating conditions for which treatment may not be effective. Alzheimer's, terminal stages of a disease

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6. Multiple treatments from a healthcare provider for a condition which, if left untreated, would result in incapacity of more than 3 calendar days

  • physical therapy, prenatal care, chemotherapy, radiation, kidney dialysis

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7. Examinations by a healthcare provider to determine whether a serious healthcare condition exists

  • does not include physicals

Examples of serious health conditions:

  • Heart attacks (surgery), Strokes, Cancer, Kidney Disease, Back Conditions requiring therapy or surgery, Severe Respiratory Conditions, Arthritis, Prenatal Care, Mental Illness resulting from stress or allergies, Severe Allergies, Treatment for substance abuse, Migraine Headaches, Shift Work disorder, High Blood Pressure

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Using FMLA to care for Spouse, Child or Parent

  • Who qualifies

    • Child under 18 (18 and older if disabled)

    • Parents or person who acts in place of a parent (loco parentis)

    • Spouse (husband or wife) can include common law as defined by the state resided in

  • "Care"  encompasses both physical and psychological care.

    • Caring for the family member's basic medical, hygienic, or nutritional needs or safety.

    • Providing transportation to medical appointments 

    • Providing psychological comfort or reassurance to a family member who is receiving at home or inpatient care.

    • Making arrangements for the family members change in care (such as a transfer to nursing home)

  • Care for an adult child is not covered unless the child has a disability as defined by the Americans with Disability Act, is incapable of self care because of disability or needs care for a serious health condition. (day to day care, or financial support)

Protection of Benefits while on FMLA

  • ​Employers must pay their share of benefits and health premiums

  • Employees must also pay their share of premiums

  • You have a 30 day grace period and the employer must notify you 15 days before coverage will cease

  • If coverage lapses from nonpayment during FMLA, it must be reinstated to full coverage upon return to work.

  • Any period of FMLA leave will not be counted towards Railroad Retirement time.

Department of Labor Contact

If you think you have been treated unfairly by the company when it comes to FMLA, contact the Department of Labor. This could be denial of FMLA or incorrect trackage of your FMLA hours. Our contact below is able to handle any of your disputes.

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DOL Chicago - Fidel Arroyo Jr.

Email - arroyo.fidel@dol.gov

Phone - (210) 885-6897

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FMLA Basic Steps

Step 1: Go to Department of Labor Site and print out the appropriate forms. Therre are forms for a personal serious health condition and forms for a family member's serious health condition. Follow this link to find the forms. FMLA: Forms | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)

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Step 2: Go to the BNSF Employee portal and  find the FMLA forms. The only document you need is the Intent to take FMLA form. They have now made this electronic. Submit this the day you fax in your FMLA document or before you submit.

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Step 3: Take these 2 forms to your doctor and fill them out with his or her help. Have the doctor's office fax the paperwork or fax it yourself to this number: 817-352-3672

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Step 4: The company has 15 days to accept or deny your FMLA. They must explain what changes need to be made on your forms if the deny it. Once you fix those corrections, they must be accepted.

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