LEAVE FOR SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

In the event of a death in an employee's family, at the discretion of the employee, up to ten (10) days of annual leave or leave without pay (LWOP) shall be granted. For the purposes of this Agreement, "family" is defined as the employee's father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, step- father/mother/sister/brother/son/daughter, half-brother, half-sister, life or domestic partner, and in loco parentis.

In loco parentis is defined as any individual who has day-to-day responsibility for the care and financial support of a child or, in the case of an employee, who had such responsibility for the employee when the employee was a child. A biological or legal relationship is not necessary.

Requests for annual or sick leave for emergencies involving illness or injury in the family shall be given priority.

Requests for annual leave, use of credit hours, compensatory time, or leave without pay to observe the Sabbath, or any other religious/ethnic holiday, or the employee's birthday shall be granted, unless staffing and workload do not permit.

Employees shall be entitled to military leave as set forth in 5 USC 6323.

In accordance with the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), upon request, an employee is entitled to a total of twelve (12) administrative workweeks of leave without pay (LWOP) during any twelve (12) month period for one (1) or more of the following reasons:

a. birth of a son or daughter and care of the newborn;

b. the placement of a son or daughter with an employee for adoption or foster care;

c. care for spouse (including pregnancy-related medical conditions), son, daughter, or parent with a serious health condition;

d. serious health condition (including pregnancy-related medical conditions) of an employee that makes the employee unable to perform duties of his/her position;

e. because of any qualifying exigency (as determined by the Secretary of Labor) arising out of the fact that the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty) in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation. For this subsection only, the employee is entitled to up to a total of twelve (12) administrative workweeks during any twelve (12) month period, or a lesser period if so specified by the qualifying event.

Additional leave beyond the initial twelve (12) weeks in any twelve (12) month period shall be subject to staffing and workload. An employee may elect to substitute any paid leave for any or all of the period of leave taken under this Section.

Within one hundred eighty (180) days of the signing of this Agreement, the Parties shall meet to explore the feasibility of establishing a paid parental leave program (e.g. excused absence, administrative leave).

In accordance with the FMLA, upon request, an employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a current member of the Armed Forces (including a member of the National Guard or Reserves) who incurred a serious injury or illness in the course of active duty shall be entitled to up to a total of twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave during a twelve (12) month period to care for the service member. The leave described in this Section shall only be available during a single twelve (12) month period. If both spouses are employed by the Agency and are eligible for leave under this Section, there is a limitation of a combined total of twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave. The twenty-six (26) workweeks described in this Section are inclusive of the twelve (12) workweeks described in Section 5. An employee may elect to substitute any paid leave for any or all of the period of leave taken under this Section.

Unless staffing and workload do not permit, employees shall be granted annual leave or LWOP to care for members of their families under the following circumstances where an employee:

a. is needed to aid/assist in the care of his/her minor children whose care provider is temporarily unable to provide care; or

b. must accompany a family member to medical appointments.

Terminal/en route employees and TMSs at the ATCSCC are obligated by their significant safety duties and professional responsibilities to prepare for duty with consideration for being well rested and mentally alert. It is the responsibility of these employees to recognize and report to their supervisor when they are unable to perform operational duties due to fatigue. Upon request, employees who self-declare as unable to perform operational duties due to fatigue will be granted leave. Additionally, at his/her request, an employee who self-declares as fatigued shall be assigned other facility duties to the extent such duties are available. If no such duties are available, the employee will be granted leave as described below:

a. Sick leave shall be approved upon request.

b. Annual leave or other types of leave shall be approved upon request on a first requested basis. The approval of annual leave or other types of leave for the purpose of this Section is not subject to staffing and workload. Approval is based solely on whether or not there are other previous annual leave or other types of leave requests for the shift in question, which have not been approved.

If an employee subsequently determines that he/she is no longer fatigued, he/she may cancel any leave taken. Cancellation of annual leave will be handled in accordance with Article 24 of this Agreement.

Leave taken under this Article shall be given extra consideration over spot leave requests as provided for in Article 24 of this Agreement.

The express terms of this Article apply separately and distinctly to each of the following bargaining units: Air Traffic Controllers, Traffic Management Coordinators/Specialists, FSS, and NOTAM Specialists.