The APWU is encouraging members to use Department of Labor forms when requesting Family & Medical Leave, while the union pursues a dispute with the Postal Service over employees’ right to use APWU forms or other equivalent documentation.

In a Dec. 17, 2010, memo [PDF] to local, state, and national union officers, Mike Morris, director of Industrial Relations, wrote that the APWU continues to assert that use of Department of Labor (DOL) forms are optional. Under the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA), medical certification provided in any format must be accepted, as long as it contains all of the information required under the law, he said.

Despite the APWU’s position, Morris said, the union is encouraging employees to use the DOL Forms WH-380E [PDF] and WH-380F [PDF] until such time as a national-level grievance [PDF] on the issue is resolved. The union filed a dispute on the matter, after management notified the APWU of its intent to require employees to use the DOL forms.

In the past, the union encouraged members to use forms offered by the APWU, because the DOL forms ask physicians to provide some information that is not required by FMLA regulations.