Leave | Jury Duty

The actual number of leave days trainees may use during the training year may be less than the number allotted. Please contact your program to determine the number of days allowed.

In lieu of vacation and holiday allowances, persons employed as full-time or half-time Physicians, Post Graduate (first through seventh year) who are assigned to a County hospital for any one contractual period of at least 2 months, or its equivalent (4 months for employees on half-time items), shall earn 2 working days paid leave per month, 10 working days may be deferred each year upon written request by the employee. If no request is made, employees shall be paid for all accrued days. Upon completion of each Physician, Post Graduate year a lump sum payment shall be paid for such accrued time.

Housestaff shall earn and accrue full-pay sick leave as provided in Article 14 of the Memorandum of Understanding regarding Fringe Benefits between the County and the Coalition of County Unions, AFL-CIO, dated November 17, 1987; provided, however, that in no event shall said employees be credited with more than 8 days of full-pay sick leave in any calendar year commencing on or after January 1, 1989.

Housestaff shall be paid for unused full-pay sick leave as if they were full-time permanent employees subject to the terms and conditions set forth in said Article 14 of the Memorandum of Understanding regarding Fringe Benefits between the County and the Coalition of County Unions, AFL-CIO. Upon termination from County service, employees represented by CIR who have at least five years of continous service shall receive payment for accumulated sick leave at full pay to a maximum of 720 working hours. Such payment as provided in Section 6.24.040 of the Los Angeles County Code shall be computed at the workday hourly rate of pay in effect on the employee’s final day of County service and shall be equal to one-half of unused sick leave.

The Federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and California Family Rights Act (FRA) policy has been established to assist eligible employees to understand their rights when requesting an unpaid leave of up to twelve (12) weeks per year for the birth or adoption of a child, to stay home to care for a seriously ill family member, or to remain off work because of an illness affecting the employee. Affected employees are guaranteed a return to the same or equivalent job at the end of the leave and continuation of their health and dental coverage during the leave. They are also guaranteed certain rights regarding the giving of notice and the provision of medical verification where illness is the basis for the leave.

Key Provisions: Eligible Employees Any employee who has twelve (12) months of employment with the County and 1,250 hours of work during the twelve (12) months preceding the request for leave.

Reason for Leave
Both acts permit leave because of the following events:

• The birth and/or care of a newborn child;
• The placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care;
• The care for a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition; or
• An employee’s own serious health condition which prevents the performance of his/her job

Note: Disability due to pregnancy is considered a serious health condition under the FMLA, but not under the FRA. However, there is a separate California state law, Government code Section 12945, subdivision (b) (2), that provides unpaid pregnancy disability leave up to four (4) months, depending on actual medically documented period of disability.

Maximum Leave Twelve (12) weeks per year. A “year” for this purpose is the twelve (12) month period starting with the first day of the FMLA/FRA leave. Leave may be taken on intermittent or part-time basis. Note: Up to 16 additional weeks is permitted under the separate California pregnancy disability law. See above note.

Medical Certification Both FMLA and FRA require the employee to submit medical certification:

• To care for a family member or;
• The employee’s own serious medical condition and that the employee is unable to perform the functions of the position.

Under FMLA and FRA, the certification must contain the following: date on which the serious health condition commenced; probable duration of the condition; appropriate medical facts with the knowledge of the health care provider regarding the condition; statement that the employee is needed to care for the family member and an estimate of the amount of time needed. If the leave is for the employee’s own health problem, their certification must contain a statement that the employee is unable to perform the functions of the job. If leave is for intermittent treatment, certification must state the dates of the treatment and duration. Please refer to “Certification of Physician or Practitioner”

Under the FMLA and/or FRA, the employer can challenge the certification if it has reason to doubt the validity of the certification. Thus, the county may require that the employee obtain, at the County’s expense, a second or even third opinion from the County approved health care practitioner regarding any of the information contained in the original certification.

Employee Notice of Desire to Take Leave

Both Acts require the employee to provide the employer at least thirty (30) days notice of foreseeable event of the date the family care leave will commence and the estimated duration of the leave. If the need for the leave is based on foreseeable planned medical treatment of a family member, the employee shall attempt to schedule the treatment so as not to disrupt the county’s operations, in concurrence with the health care provider of the family member involved.

Return to Work

An employee who returns to work must be returned to the same or an equivalent position with the same benefits, salary, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Substitution of Paid Leave

FMLA/FRA leave is unpaid leave, but the employee may elect to use accrued paid leave to cover part of all of the twelve (12) week period. The use of paid leave is subject to all of the same conditions (e.g., medical certification for sick leave, managers/supervisors approval for vacation, compensatory time, etc.) That normally applies to the use of such time.

Benefit Continuation

If a family leave absence is covered with paid leave, cafeteria plan (CHOICES, OPTIONS and FLEX/MEGAFLEX) contributions and other benefit coverage will continue uninterrupted just as it would with paid leave taken for any other purpose.

For employees who take unpaid leave, the County must make contributions toward health leave and dental coverage while the employee is out. The employee must also make payments toward this coverage to the same extent such payments would otherwise be required if the employee were not on family leave.

Posting Requirements

A requirement of FMLA is that a notice be posted prominently where it can be readily seen by employees and applicants. Therefore, the notice titled, “Your Rights Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993” located on Page 8

Restoration of Reinstatement

Both Acts require the employer to reinstate an employee who takes leave either to the position he/she held before going on leave or to an “equivalent” position, with equivalent employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Records

Records relating to compliance will be maintained by the Human Resources Department.

Procedure:

Whenever an employee requests a FMLA/FRA leave of absence, s/he must complete and submit:

• “Request for Leave of Absence” HH611 form (Page 4) stating “FMLA/FRA” in the “Reason for Request”
• “Request for Family Medical Leave Act (FMLW) Family Rights Act (FRA Leave of Absence (Page 5)
• “Certification of Physician or Practitioner” (if appropriate)(Page 6). This medical certification must be attached to
• “Request for Leave of Absence” HH 611 form when the employee requests FMLA/FRA to care for a family member or his/her own serious medical condition.
• The employee must be provided with a copy of “Your Rights Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993”(Page 8).
• If an employee requests FMLA/FRA, the supervisor/manager must contact the personnel technician in Human Resources Administration (ext. 3231). The personnel technician will provide advice and counsel in meeting FMLA/FRA requirements. If appropriate, a letter will be sent to the employee advising him/her of FMLA/FRA rights and responsibilities. Additionally, Human Resources Administration will maintain centralized records regarding FMLA/FRA compliance.
• Human Resources Administration, Building F8 (ext. 3241) will provide copies of the above documents upon request.

Your Residency Training Program can request deferment of jury duty for trainees. The request will not necessarily be granted but we have had luck with this in the past.

Please note: You must follow all the directions in the jury summons letter you receive, regardless of any letter your program writes on your behalf.

Instructions

Notify your Program Coordinator as soon as you receive a jury summons in the mail and provide a copy of the summons to your coordinator. Using a template created by the GME Office, your coordinator will write the Jury Commission requesting that your jury duty be postponed until after you graduate so as not to cause a hardship in your education. Be sure to keep a copy of the letter that your coordinator sends the Jury Commission.

After the letter is mailed by your Program, the Jury Commission may write you asking for more information, express that you are relieved from jury duty, or tell you that you must still show up for jury duty. Please be sure to follow any and all instructions you receive from the Jury Commission including your initial summons.