For travel assistance on LOA/reactivation in ID90 and MyTravel accounts or returning from continuous leave, please contact F9Pass at F9Pass@flyFrontier.com.
- What is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ?
The Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) is a federal law that provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical related reasons, including leave for your own serious illness, for the birth or adoption of a child, or to care for seriously ill family members.
- Who is eligible for FMLA?
An airline flight crew employee meets the FMLA hours of service required if during the previous 12 months, he or she has:
- Worked or been paid for not less than 60 percent of the employee’s applicable monthly guarantee;
- Worked or been paid for not less than 504 hours; and
- Worked for Frontier for at least 1 year
Vacation time, sick leave and commuter time do not count as hours paid.
- How is FMLA leave calculated for crew?
Twelve weeks of leave is calculated based upon a hypothetical 6-day work week based on guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor.This results in 72 days available for FMLA leave in any 12-month period.
- What are some examples of reasons for taking FMLA leave?
- For a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform his or her job;
- To care for the employee’s child after birth, or placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care, or;
- To care for the employee’s spouse, son or daughter, or parent, who has a serious health condition.
- Must FMLA leave be taken all at once?
No. FMLA leave can be taken intermittently, or in one or more continuous blocks of time.
- What should I do if I know that I am going to need FMLA leave, for example, the birth of a child?
Please contact the LOA Department at loa@flyfrontier.com as soon as you become aware you may need FMLA leave. Except in cases of emergency, advance notice is required for FMLA leave. Medical certification is always required before FMLA leave can be approved.
Your request should include your name, EE number, contact number, email address, notice if the leave request is for the employee’s own serious health condition, for the birth or adoption of a child, or to care for a seriously ill family member, and if the request is for continuous, or intermittent leave.For a family member, LOA needs to know that person’s relationship to you to determine whether or not FMLA leave is applicable.
You will need to read, sign and return the Notice to Employee Regarding FMLA within 3 days. There is no penalty for returning this form late; the short deadline is in place to ensure YOU promptly receive important information about your responsibilities and Frontier’s policies while using FMLA leave.
Your healthcare provider (or your family member’s health care provider) must complete a Certification of Health Care Provider form. This form must be submitted to LOA within 15 calendar days of the date from the date that we have provided you with the Certification form. If after making a diligent good faith effort, you are unable to meet this deadline, please contact LOA to arrange for a reasonable extension of time to submit the form.
- How soon should I submit my FMLA paperwork if I know I may need an FMLA leave?
Ideally, for a planned FMLA leave, your paperwork should be submitted to LOA@flyfrontier.com thirty days in advance. This is also the case if you think you may need a leave but are not 100% sure that you will actually need to take the leave, or you are not sure when the leave will start. As it sometimes takes time for a health care provider to provide us with your medical certification, it is important to submit the form to your health care provider as soon as possible. Submitting the paperwork does not commit you to taking the leave and your flight schedule will NOT be adjusted unless and until you notify the LOA office that you intend to begin your leave.
- What address do LOA communications come from?
Please watch for messages from do-not-reply@absencesoft.com. This is the “sending” email address when we send messages from within our LOA tracking system. Sometimes we hear these messages go to a spam or junk mail folder, so please check those folders as well as your in box for messages from this address. You might want to add the email address and/or domain to your contacts list or “acceptable domain” list since many messages from LOA will come from this email address.
Please continue to use the email address loa@flyfrontier.com. Messages sent TO do-not-reply@absencesoft.com will not reach the LOA office.
- Can I be on a COLA and FMLA at the same time?
You may not be on a company approved leave of absence and FMLA simultaneously. You must be eligible to work to be on a COLA. If you are on a continuous leave for an approved medical condition, you are not eligible to work.
