FML Use: Continuous vs Intermittent

Continuous "Single Block" Absence 

Can be used for a non-chronic medical condition/injury absence where the condition (not necessarily the number of days of work missed) lasts four (4) or more days.

•  If already approved to care for a family member (as UNPAID FML), then the FA would place a call to FAST to begin the absence (not a ‘sick call’) and once again contact FAST to end the absence at the specified date which was requested/approved/certified by the HCP treating the family member.

•  If the need for ‘FML To Care For a Family Member’ is unforeseen, the FA when contacting FAST would advise that they will not be available for their assignment in order to care for a family member, should be coded as UNPAID and the FA will be pursuing Family Leave.  You then have 15-days from the start of the absence within which to submit the necessary Family Leave form To Care For a Family Member. [Note: in this case, the absence may be coded as a Missed Trip/MT, however, once the FML Certification is submitted and approved, the MT will be removed and replaced with the appropriate FML coding.  If the change is not made by the ESC, then you may have to contact your Supervisor, provide them the FML Approval Letter, and the Supervisor should then proceed to have the Missed Trip removed (and any associated Attendance Points).

• If the BLOCK absence is for ‘FML SELF’ (the employee’s own medical condition), and is unforeseen, then contact FAST to put yourself ‘ON SICK LEAVE-FAMILY LEAVE PENDING’.  Submit the necessary completed FML Certification paperwork via HelpHub within 15-days of the start of the absence and be sure to include the date you first missed work (expressed as “Most recent absence on xx/xx/xxxx.”). Once approved, then the Company will convert your Work History from Sick Leave to Family Leave and will remove any Attendance Points associated with the block absence.

Extending an FML Absence 

*IMPORTANT* Please note, for a Block FML absence, it is easier to extend an absence if doing so becomes necessary than it is to shorten a requested absence duration. This is easily accomplished by submitting an Absence Certificate, completed by your HCP, with a new potential Return-To-Work date. The Absence Certificate would need to be resubmitted no more than every 30 days as necessary and dependent upon your ability to fully perform the required Flight Attendant duties as outlined in the FA Job Description (form available on Flying Together as well as on the AFA Family Leave website, found under ‘Family Medical Leave Forms’)

Intermittent Absence (for chronic condition)

Can be used for chronic serious health conditions that require multiple absences from work over a period of up to one year

• Once approved, the Certification Letter should verify the FREQUENCY (i.e., the number of occurrences per month) and DURATION (i.e., the number of days the medical condition is anticipated to last per each occurrence).

• Please note that the number of occurrences per month are registered by the CALENDAR month rather than the BID month. 

(For example purposes only, if the FA is approved for 1-3 occurrences per month and calls ON FML for a pairing scheduled to depart January 29 but the February BID month starts on January 28th, this occurrence would be charged to the January CALENDAR month rather than the February BID month, even if the pairing would overlap from one calendar month to the next.)

• Another critical point to consider when using Family Leave is that the DURATION parameter should be certified by the Health Care Provider based upon how long the episode of the medical condition typically lasts and DOES NOT relate to the number of days of a Pairing that is to be missed.
  
  (For example purposes only, the Health Care Provider certifies that a medical condition may occur 1-3x per month, and the medical condition may prevent the FA from working for 1-2 days per occurrence.  In this circumstance, the FA could still use their approved FML for a 3 or 4-day pairing and would not exceed their approved Duration Parameter as long as the FA contacts FAST prior to the end of DAY TWO.  All 4 days of the Pairing will be designated as Family Leave, and all 4 days may be counted against the FA’s 78 day FML allocation (if the FML is taken as unpaid, per JCBA 15.I.5.c), BUT the duration parameter will not be considered to have been exceeded as long as the FA calls OFF FML (to END) the occurrence no later than the certified duration parameter of, in this example, 2-days.)
    

  • If a Lineholder, the FA is not reassignable for the remaining day/s of the Pairing missed.

  •  If a Reserve, the FA would then resume their regular scheduled Reserve Availability.  Please note that when a Reserve is calling OFF FML (as is the case for calling OFF Sickleave), the FA should understand the timing of such a call as defined in JCBA Section 8.F.4 (below):

8.F.4. A Reserve who is returning from sick leave status shall be treated as follows:

a.     If she/he calls off sick leave prior to 1600, she/he will be given an assignment through the preferencing system via the 1930 automated communication system and online system;

b.     If she/he calls off sick leave between 1600 and 1930, she/he will be given an assignment via the 1930 automated communication system and online system;

c.     If she/he calls off sick leave after 1930 and up to 2400, an assignment will be given to her/him at the time of the call;

d.     A Flight Attendant calling off sick leave after 2400, shall be considered on sick leave for the calendar day.

Intermittent Parameters Explained

For example purposes only, the Health Care Provider certifies that a medical condition may occur 1-3x per month, and the medical condition may prevent the FA from working for 1-2 days per occurrence.  In this circumstance, the FA could still use their approved FML for a 3 or 4-day pairing and would not exceed their approved Duration Parameter as long as the FA contacts FAST prior to the end of DAY TWO.  All 4 days of the Pairing will be coded as Family Leave in your schedule, BUT the duration parameter will not be considered to have been exceeded as long as the FA calls OFF FML (to END) the occurrence no later than the certified duration parameter of, in this example, 2-days.)

After reviewing the above information, should you have further questions or need clarification on any of the covered topics, please contact your local Council AFA office at afaden.org

What if I Exceed My Parameters?

If you exceed your parameters for your approved intermittent leave, you may be notified by the company (should be within 5 business days) that you have exceeded your FREQUENCY and/or DURATION parameters and will have 15 days from that notification date to respond with either a letter from your treating health care provider or your original paperwork with revised frequency/duration, with all changes having been circled, initialed and dated by your treating health care provider.

In some cases, you may just get a "warning" letter with no change to your FMLA certification, but those are less common. If you do get the warining letter, there is nothing you need to do. Read communications carefully so that you know what your obligations are in each case. 

FML for Self 

• FMLA for elf can be taken as either paid or unpaid, regardless of hours remaining in sick bank.

• FMLA for self can be taken as continuous or intermittent

• NEW! FMLA for self always rolls, regardless if it is paid or unpaid (see explanation below):

  • Effective the October 2025 Bid Month, Family Medical Leave (FML) absences for a Flight Attendant’s own medical condition will “roll” (meaning they will continue until you call “off” to end the FML absence) regardless of whether it is paid or unpaid. This change is the result of the Union and the Company’s mutual resolution of MEC Grievance 18-24. The intent is that the call on/call off procedure for both paid and unpaid FML (for self) is now the same. This is true for both Lineholders AND Reserves. 

  • This change is applicable to all Flight Attendants using FML (for self), both paid and unpaid, and especially to those using intermittent FML (self). Prior to this change, a Flight Attendant did not have the ability to call “off” to end an unpaid FML absence. This interfered with a member's ability to manage their intermittent FML duration parameter, and in some cases was causing members to lose their FML certification. Going forward, Flight Attendants should be using the same call on/call off procedure for both paid and unpaid FML (self) and for paid sick leave.

•  The choice for PAID or UNPAID FML for Self must be declared to the FAST Representative at the time the FA calls FAST to use their approved, current FML Certification.  If no preference is indicated, then the default is that the occurrence will be PAID from the FA’s Sick Leave bank  (if you are not sure if you have hours in your sick bank, you will not "get in trouble" for electing PAID, you simply will not be paid anything for that  absence - this is true for FML and regular sick  calls.)

FML for a Family Member

• FMLA for a family member cannot be supplemented by sick bank and so is always UNPAID. 

• FMLA for a family member can be either continuous or intermittent

• FMLA for a family member does NOT roll, meaning you must call FAST for each Lineholder assignment or RSV day

• IMPORTANT: DO NOT use either personal Sick Leave or FML For Self to care for a family member! Doing so is considered by UA Management to be ‘abuse of Sick Leave/Family Leave’ and is subject to discipline up to and including termination. 

• The exception to this is Section 13.D.7 of the JCBA (sometimes known as "kin care") which allows a Flight Attendant to take up to three (3) consecutive days, (or the duration of the pairing, whichever is greater) to be paid from their sick time to care for a spouse or minor child who is "ill or injured so that the Flight Attendant is unable to report for work".  This type of absence is treated the same as the Flight Attendant's sick leave, and will count for attendance/disciplinary purposes. If you decide to use, Section 13.D.7 it is not Family Medical Leave and does accrue attendance points. 13.D.7 may be used only once per calendar year (Jan-Dec). Note that the 3 days limits only how many days are paid and does not limit the number of days the sick call can last.