How Do I Take FMLA Leave as a UPS Teamster?

Family and Medical Leave can protect your job and your health insurance when you need to step away for the birth of a child, to care for a family member, or to recover from a serious health condition. Your UPS contract spells out the rules in detail. Here's how it works.

Who is eligible for FMLA at UPS

Under the National Master UPS Agreement, you are eligible for unpaid FMLA leave if you have worked for the Company for at least twelve (12) months and worked at least 1,250 hours during the past twelve (12) months ^[2]. The Southwest riders use the same standard ^[5][6].

Your contract also adds a second eligibility path that goes beyond the federal law. If you don't meet the standard above, you can still qualify if you have worked for the Company for at least thirty-six (36) months and accrued at least 625 paid hours during the past twelve (12) months — but in that case the amount of leave is computed at one-half (1/2) of the time the FMLA normally provides ^[2][5][6]. That's why your contract refers to "12/6 weeks": full-eligibility employees get 12 weeks, while the reduced-eligibility group gets 6 ^[2][5].

Generally speaking, the federal FMLA itself requires 12 months of employment and 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months, and applies to employers with 50 or more employees — so UPS is squarely covered ^[9][11]. The 36-month/625-hour path is an extra benefit your union negotiated, not a federal requirement.

What you can take FMLA leave for

Your contract lists four qualifying reasons for up to 12/6 weeks of unpaid leave in any twelve (12) month period ^[2][5][6]:

1. Birth of a child;
2. Adoption or placement for foster care;
3. To care for a spouse, child, or parent due to a serious health condition;
4. Your own serious health condition ^[2][5][6].

Generally speaking, the federal FMLA also provides additional leave categories your contract excerpts don't spell out — for example, "qualifying exigency" leave when a family member is on covered military active duty, and up to 26 workweeks of military caregiver leave in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember ^[12][10]. These are general federal rights, not specific terms quoted in your contract excerpts.

How much leave you get — and how pay works

FMLA leave is unpaid under your contract ^[2][5][6]. However, the Employer may require you to substitute accrued paid vacation or other paid leave for part of the 12/6 week leave period ^[2][5][6].

The National Master adds an important protection: you are allowed to retain up to two (2) weeks of accrued paid vacation that will not be substituted for the leave period ^[4]. In other words, the company can't force you to burn all your vacation on FMLA — you get to keep up to two weeks.

Article 16 also lets you bank paid time off for pregnancy/birth situations. Notwithstanding any contrary Supplement, Rider, or Addenda language, you may designate up to twenty (20) days of paid time off in a vacation year to be used the next vacation year to cover time you're unable to work due to pregnancy (for fathers, time off due to the birth) that isn't covered by FMLA, disability plans, or other paid time off. If you don't use it, it's paid out within two weeks of your request ^[7].

Your job, seniority, and health insurance are protected

While you're on FMLA leave under the contract, your seniority rights continue as if you had not taken the leave, and the Employer will maintain your health insurance coverage during the leave ^[2][5][6]. Generally speaking, this mirrors the federal FMLA's core promise of job-protected, group-health-protected leave ^[11].

Maternity and paternity leave

The Southwest riders address maternity and paternity leave directly. Maternity leave for female employees is granted with no loss of seniority for as long as their doctor determines they are physically unable to return to their normal duties, and must comply with applicable state and federal laws ^[5][6].

Paternity leave for a male employee whose spouse is pregnant is granted with no loss of seniority, for each pregnancy, for a period not to exceed 12/6 weeks. Employees who can't meet the FMLA eligibility qualifications are still granted leave not to exceed one (1) week, starting on the date of birth or the day the spouse is released from the hospital, at the employee's choice ^[5][6]. The National Master similarly grants paternity leave under Section 6, with a minimum of one week for those who can't meet the standard eligibility rules ^[7].

How to request the leave — notice and certification

The contract sets out the steps you must follow:

• Give 30 days' advance notice if your need for leave is foreseeable (for example, a scheduled surgery or an expected birth) ^[2][3].
• If the leave is not foreseeable, give notice as soon as practicable ^[2][3].
• The Employer has the right to require medical certification of the need for leave under the Act ^[2][3].
• The Employer may also require a second opinion at the Employer's expense ^[2][3].

Importantly, your contract says these provisions respond to the federal Act and shall not supersede any state or local law that provides greater employee rights ^[2][3]. So if your state offers stronger family-leave protections, those can still apply.

Generally speaking, when you take FMLA, the employer can require you to actually fulfill physical time worked to count toward eligibility, and the law is built around job-protected unpaid leave ^[8][11]. Practically, that means keep records of your hours so you can show you meet the 1,250-hour (or 625-hour) threshold.

A note on sick leave (separate from FMLA)

Don't confuse FMLA with your sick-leave bank. Under the Southwest Package Rider, a regular full-time employee who has completed one year of seniority gets 56 hours (seven 8-hour days) of straight-time sick pay, with seven days on each succeeding anniversary, and the option to accumulate up to 60 days, cash it out, or use it with vacation ^[1]. Part-timers under the rider get seven days of sick leave (four-hour daily guarantee) after one year, with similar accumulation options ^[3]. These are separate paid benefits — you may be able to use them alongside or instead of unpaid FMLA, depending on the situation.

What to do next

If you're planning FMLA leave, start early: figure out which eligibility path you meet, give the company written notice (30 days ahead if you can), and ask for the certification forms. Keep copies of everything. Because the exact rules can vary by supplement and rider — and because state laws can add protections — talk to your shop steward or Business Agent before you start, and ask TeamstersGPT with your specific supplement selected so you get the language that actually applies to your building.