Women’s Committee Report

NPMHU WOMEN’S COMMITTEE

CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

June Harris, Central Region Vice President, Local 306 President, Women’s Committee Chairperson

Spring is just around the corner, and I am truly looking forward to a new season. Due to the relaxation of the various COVID mandates, it will be refreshing to be outdoors. This time, I am better able to appreciate the fresh air, flowers, people watching, restaurants, movie theaters, and shared time with family and friends. The anticipation of a return to a somewhat normal existence is enough to bring a smile to my face.

One event that I am anticipating is the 2020 Mail Handlers National Convention. Yes, this is not a typo. The 2020 Convention is coming soon in August 2022. This will be a long-delayed gathering of a great group of folks to conduct the business of our awesome membership. Our Women’s Committee members, in unity with National President Paul Hogrogian and the entire National Executive Board, have been working hard to be a valuable asset at the Convention. We want to provide the delegates with necessary information that can be utilized in their daily lives. I cannot give you specific details just yet, but I just wanted to spike your curiosity about the Convention. I guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.

The month of March is also a time for celebration. International Women’s Day is being celebrated on March 8th. There is a worldwide celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The theme this year is #BreakTheBias. The position of the arms crossed signify a commitment to calling out bias, smashing stereotypes, breaking inequality, and rejecting discrimination.

Many may ask, what bias? They assume that there are no biases against women, especially in this day and age. This is a false assumption that leads many people to reduce the impact and effect that biases against women can cause. Depending on what part of the world that you reside, the bias may vary or be even more extreme. According to a United Nations report, almost 90% of men and women have some sort of bias against females. Across the world, nearly 50% of men say that they have greater rights to a job than a woman. Almost a third of the people who responded to the UN study felt it was acceptable for men to hit their partners. The biggest eye opener I found was that there were no countries in the world with gender equality. Again, it is imperative that the world recognize the necessity of the female voice. Thankfully, we are members of a Union that does so. As you look around at our Mail Handler family, you see a larger and larger number of women who are and have been involved and active participants in the governing of our Union. Contributions, great and small, have been at the hands of women who were pioneers. This helps to give the women who follow more confidence that they too can be a part of something great. Women do have a voice in the decision making of this world. It is important that the contributions made by women and girls are not diminished or swept under the rug. We celebrate our entire Mail Handlers Union membership, both our Brothers and Sisters. It is with the support of our Brothers that we are able to break down the biases against females. We salute you! Thanks for standing with us. But the month of March is for the worldwide recognition and acknowledgement of the fabulous, smart, and irreplaceable women and girls on the globe. Cross your arms on March 8th to show solidarity as we unify to #BreakThe Bias!

CONTINUATION OF PAY

By Patrick Donovan, Northeast Region Director

While COVID-19 numbers are on the decline after the perfect storm of the Omicron variant and holiday gatherings, many Sisters and Brothers are still contracting the virus. The system previously put in place by management to protect employees from the spread of the virus crumbled under the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. After two years of this pandemic, many members wonder how they will pay their bills if they are forced to quarantine due to testing positive for the virus.

In 2020 and 2021, federal employees had access to two different types of paid leave for COVID-19 related absences, those being the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFRCA) and Emergency Federal Employee Leave (EFEL) created by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Now that both FFCRA and EFEL have expired, management will not grant administrative leave for contracting COVID-19. Management will offer sick leave, annual leave, or leave without pay. However, many employees have had to exhaust their own leave due to their kid’s school going to remote learning or needing to care for a loved one and they cannot afford to be without pay for two weeks. A common question that members ask their Union Steward is if there is another type of paid leave they can use if they are forced to quarantine. The answer is yes.

Initially, on March 31, 2020, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) Division of Federal Employees Compensation (DFEC) established certain conditions for federal employees (including mail handlers and other postal employees) to qualify for Continuation of Pay (COP) due to contracting COVID-19. These conditions were fully set forth when DFEC published the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) Bulletin No. 20-05, Subject: Federal Employees Contracting COVID-19 in Performance of Duty.

FECA Bulletin No. 20-05 outlined the process for federal and postal employees to file a CA-1 to receive Continuation of Pay (COP) in a similar manner to any other traumatic injury sustained at work. Except for employees considered to work high-risk jobs (such as members of law enforcement, first responders, and front-line medical and public health personnel), OWCP required quite a bit of evidence to approve a request for COP due to contracting COVID-19. (Special case handling considerations applied to employees who worked in high-risk jobs. Those employees were given the benefit of the doubt that they contracted the virus at work.)

Of most importance, these March 2020 guidelines have been changed. On April 28, 2021, DFEC published new standards in FECA Bulletin No. 21-09, Subject: Processing FECA Claims for COVID-19 under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

FECA BULLETIN NO. 21-09 STATES IN PART:

On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) was signed into law. This new legislation streamlines the process for federal workers diagnosed with COVID-19 to establish coverage under the FECA. Specifically, Section 4016 of the ARPA provides that a “covered employee” as defined below shall, with respect to any claim made by or on behalf of the covered employee for benefits under the FECA, be deemed to have an injury proximately caused by exposure to COVID-19 arising out of the nature of the covered employee’s employment.

• Under Section 4016 of the ARPA, the term

“covered employee” means an individual: • Who is an employee under Section 8101(1) of title 5, United States Code, employed in the Federal service at any time during the period beginning on

January 27, 2020, and ending on January 27, 2023; • Who is diagnosed with COVID–19 during such period; and • Who, during a covered exposure period prior to such diagnosis, carries out duties that— » require contact with patients, members of the public, or co-workers; or » include a risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus.

In other words, Section 4016 of the ARPA has made it far easier for federal and postal employees to receive COP due to contracting COVID-19. These changes mean that you are only required to show that your job puts you at risk of exposure to COVID-19. Working around other people is where the risk comes in. You no longer have to prove you were engaged in high-risk employment; that you were actually exposed to the virus; or that you were exposed to someone who had

the virus while at work. Also, if you establish that you are a “covered employee” (see above), any diagnosed COVID19 will be deemed to have been caused by your federal or postal employment. This means that you no longer have to establish a causal link between your employment and your COVID-19 diagnosis.

Additionally, 21-09 also stated that a claim for COVID-19 would not be considered a new injury unless the date of injury was more than 1 year from the date of injury of any prior accepted COVID-19 claim for the same employee. Rather it would be combined with the existing claim and developed as necessary as a consequential or recurrence claim.

On February 16, 2022, the FECA Program further amended some of the processing procedures for claims for COVID-19 filed under the ARPA in FECA Bulletin 22-06.

Bulletin 22-06 amended; Reinfection and Self-Administered COVID-19 Testing. Those amendments state:

REINFECTION:

Effective the date of this Bulletin, a claim for COVID-19 will be considered a new injury when the employee tests positive for COVID-19 90 days or more from the date of the employee’s previous positive COVID-19 test. The 90 days is from the date the initial COVID-19 test is performed to the date the current COVID-19 test is performed.

SELF-ADMINISTERED COVID-19 TESTING:

Self-administered COVID-19 testing as defined above is insufficient to establish a diagnosis of COVID-19 under the FECA. This is because there is no way for FECA claims staff to affirmatively establish (1) the date and time the sample was collected and (2) that the sample collected is that of the injured Federal employee making the claim.

The only exception to this policy is where the administration of the self-test is monitored by a medical professional and the results are verified through documentation submitted by such professional.

WHAT IS NEEDED FROM YOU WHEN YOU FILE THE CA-1?

If you file a claim requesting COP due to contracting COVID19, two pieces of information/documents should be provided along with your CA-1: 1. Evidence of being at work within 21 days of showing symptoms or a positive test, i.e., clock rings, statement, etc.; and 2. Acceptable evidence of a COVID-19 diagnosis.

On August 28, 2021, the FECA Program issued FECA Bulletin 21-10, which further amended the processing procedures for claims for COVID-19 to the extent that in order to establish a diagnosis of COVID-19, an employee (or survivor) should submit medical evidence as noted below:

A. A positive Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) or Antigen COVID-19 test result; or B. A positive Antibody test result, together with contemporaneous medical evidence that the claimant had documented symptoms of and/ or was treated for COVID-19 by a physician (a notice to quarantine is not sufficient if there was no evidence of illness); or C. If no positive laboratory test is available, a

COVID-19 diagnosis from a physician together with rationalized medical opinion supporting the diagnosis and an explanation as to why a positive test result is not available.

In certain rare instances, a physician may provide a rationalized opinion with supporting factual and medical background as to why the employee has a diagnosis of COVID-19 notwithstanding a negative or series of negative COVID-19 test results.

As you can see from the different FECA Bulletins, this information is continually changing as we all learn more about living with this virus. Your National Union will continue to keep you updated on these changes. Access to COP for contracting COVID-19 is your right under ARPA. Do not let management convince you otherwise. Keep in mind that, even if you are asymptomatic or have light symptoms, we do not know if there will be long term effects from contracting COVID-19. Protect yourself by filing a CA-1 as you would for any other injury.