YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT
(as pertaining specifically to Southwestern Bell Telephone and current as of September, 2000)
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Disability and FMLA
If you are out on an approved disability, that disability time is paid by the company (either whole or half pay, based on your net credited service and length of disability), and your FMLA times runs concurrently (at the same time) as the disability. Once you have exhausted 12 weeks, you're officially out of FMLA time, even though you may still be on an approved disability.

How Your 12 Weeks is Calculated
Your 12 weeks begins (the way AT&T allows it) in the 12 calendar months beginning in January and ending in December of any given year. In other words, beginning in January of any year, your 12 week entitlement starts all over again.

Paperwork and Time Limits
The key to making sure your FMLA absence is approved is to have your doctor fill out the company's FMLA paperwork correctly (and you have an absence that would normally qualify under FMLA regulations) and return it within the time limits. One of the most common problem the union encounters in working with members who have unapproved FMLA absences is when your doctor does not fill out the documentation correctly or return it on time. Your doctor's office also must be the entity who faxes the paperwork in to the FMLA department at Southwestern Bell.

The following are normally (but not limited to) the categories that your situation will fall into based on AT&T's FMLA documentation:

• pregnancy
• chronic conditions requiring treatment (asthma, diabetes, migraines, etc.)
• permanent long-term conditions requiring treatment (cancer, Alzheimer's, terminal states of a disease)
• multiple treatments/non-chronic conditions (this is where the 3 day rule applies; e.g. a condition that would likely result in a period of incapacity of more than 3 consecutive calendar days in the absence of medical intervention).

The company does change its paperwork from time to time, but categories generally include the above. The doctor has to utilize the correct reason for your particular absence. You can download the appropriate FMLA forms from AT&T's Forms website.

Beginning in September, 2000, AT&T set up new procedures for FMLA paperwork. These were:

• FMLA paperwork must be faxed directly from the office of the patient's health care provider (or)
• original paperwork can be mailed to the FMLA Processing Center at the address on the front of the paperwork.

If medical documentation is not received in one of these two ways, your request for FMLA absence may not be considered for approval.

You only have 15 calendar days from your first date of absence to return your FMLA paperwork to the company. There is a fax number on the front of the FMLA form that your doctor may use to fax your documentation, or your doctor can mail it. There are some circumstances where the 15 day rule can be waived, but it's on an individual case basis and has to evaluated by the company; e.g. your doctor is out of the office for an extended period and therefore can't complete your paperwork on time.

We are discovering that usually, if your absence was not approved on your initial request, the company will give you only one more chance to resubmit the correct paperwork. You will receive notification (usually at home) whether your absence was approved or not. Your supervisor will receive his or her copy at work.

If your FMLA request was not approved, the first thing you should do is immediately obtain a copy of the paperwork that your doctor sent AT&T and examine it (a union steward or officer will be glad to help). The denial from the company should give a brief synopsis of why it was denied. Make sure all questions on the form have been completed by your doctor's office. Again, you will only have a limited time to resubmit it for a second consideration (usually within 15 days), so it needs to be done promptly.