PS Form 3971, Request for or Notification of Absence, is the Postal Service leave form you complete and submit to your supervisor any time you need to be off work — vacation, sick, FMLA, military, court, bereavement, or leave without pay. ELM Section 511.23 requires you to fill it out and get approval before the absence, with the only exception being emergencies where advance approval isn’t possible. Blank copies live in the supervisor’s office or breakroom, on the USPS Blue intranet, or you can submit electronically through eLRA on LiteBlue.
Where to Get a Copy
Most facilities keep paper copies in the supervisor’s office or the employee breakroom. For a digital copy, log into blue.usps.gov, click Forms under Essential Links, and choose the 3000–3999 range. The direct file is at blue.usps.gov/formmgmt/forms/ps3971.pdf.
The electronic Leave Request Application, eLRA, is the other route. Sign into LiteBlue, open the eLRA icon under Employee Apps Quick Links, and follow the prompts. Your request transmits to your manager and creates a digital record on both sides. eLRA is especially useful for unscheduled absences, but you’ll still need to complete a paper 3971 when you return to duty. The electronic submission starts the record; the paper form closes it.
Filling Out the Front
The front captures who you are, when you’ll be gone, and what kind of leave you want charged. Work through it top to bottom:
- Employee’s Name — your full name as it appears in postal records.
- Employee ID — your eight-digit Employee Identification Number, the same one used for PostalEASE and the IVR.
- Date Submitted — the day you’re filling out the form, MM/DD/YYYY.
- Installation — the name of the post office or facility. Postmasters enter city, state, and ZIP Code instead.
- Pay Loc. No. and D/A Code — your pay location number and designation/activity code, which link the request to your facility’s budget line.
- From Date/Hour and Thru Date/Hour — the start and end of the absence. For a single day off, both dates are the same.
- No. of Hours Requested — the total hours. A full-time employee taking one day enters 8. Base partial or multi-day requests on your standard schedule.
- N/S Day — check if the absence falls on your non-scheduled day.
Then check the box for the type of absence:
- Annual — vacation or personal time charged to your annual leave balance.
- Sick — illness, injury, medical appointments, or dependent care.
- Holiday/AL Lv Exch — holiday leave or an annual leave exchange day.
- LWOP — Leave Without Pay; you stay on the rolls but receive no salary.
- COP — Continuation of Pay for on-the-job injuries.
- Military Leave — check and note whether your orders have been reviewed.
- Court Leave — jury duty or court service; your summons should be reviewed.
- Other — voting leave, blood donation, civil defense, relocation, and similar categories.
Answer Yes or No to whether you’re requesting FMLA protection. If yes, complete the FMLA section on the back. Fill in your scheduled reporting time, the time you called in or submitted the request, and a phone number where you can be reached. Check “Do not call” if you’d rather not be contacted. Sign and date at the bottom before handing the form to your supervisor.
The Back: FMLA and Leave Codes
The reverse side has two functions. The FMLA section asks you to identify the reason for the absence and whether it ties to an existing FMLA case.
Reasons for incapacity include sickness, pregnancy or prenatal care, on-the-job injury, off-the-job injury, medical or dental examination, or exposure to a contagious disease. Reasons for unavailability include dependent care, placement of a child for adoption or foster care, birth of a child and bonding, a military family member’s qualifying exigency, or caring for an injured or ill military family member.
If the absence relates to a new medical condition, check the new-condition box. USPS will mail you an FMLA packet with certification forms and instructions. If you already have an approved or pending FMLA case, enter your case number so this absence gets linked to the correct file.
The back also prints a reference table of numeric leave codes and their FMLA variants. Timekeepers and payroll use these; you generally don’t enter them yourself, but the table is there if you want to confirm what applies.
A warning printed on the form notes that knowingly providing false information can result in a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both, under 18 U.S.C. 1001.
What to Attach for Each Type of Leave
Documentation requirements vary. Getting the right paperwork in with your 3971 keeps the request from stalling.
Annual Leave
Submit the form as far in advance as possible so management can plan staffing. Approval must be in place before the absence begins under ELM 511.23. No documentation beyond the form itself.
Sick Leave
For three consecutive workdays or fewer, your own statement is usually enough, unless you’re on restricted sick leave or your supervisor decides documentation is needed to protect Postal Service interests. Beyond three consecutive workdays, submit medical documentation or other acceptable evidence showing you couldn’t work. Generic phrases like “under my care” or “received treatment” don’t meet the standard; the documentation needs to describe the nature of your illness or injury clearly enough to show you couldn’t perform your duties. On extended sick leave, expect to update your documentation at intervals no more frequent than every 30 days.
FMLA Leave
FMLA provides up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in any 12-month period. If the need is foreseeable, submit PS Form 3971 with supporting medical certification to your FMLA coordinator — or to your supervisor if no coordinator is designated — at least 30 days before the absence. If it isn’t foreseeable, give verbal notice as soon as you can and turn in the form with documentation when you return. Intermittent FMLA absences still get reported individually, but your existing case number ties them together.
Military Leave
Submit the form before your service begins, or as soon as you learn of it. When you return, provide a copy of your orders or other documentation endorsed by the appropriate military authority confirming that the duty was performed. Travel time to a training location on a workday is not covered as paid military leave unless the orders specifically include it.
Court Leave
You need a summons or other official written request from the court or authority conducting the proceeding. If the summons doesn’t spell out the nature of the service, your installation head contacts the court to clarify. Non-rural employees also complete PS Form 1224, Court Duty Leave — Statement of Service.
Bereavement Leave
You can use up to three workdays of annual leave, sick leave, LWOP, or a combination for arrangements or funeral attendance after the death of a family member. Qualifying family members include your spouse, children (biological, adopted, or stepchildren), parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and in-laws in those same categories. Anything beyond three days follows the standard leave rules under Article 10 of the National Agreement and ELM Section 510.
Unscheduled Absences: Calling In
When you can’t make it to work and haven’t submitted a 3971 in advance, call the Interactive Voice Response system at 877-477-3273 as soon as possible. IVR will ask for your eight-digit Employee ID, the reason for the absence, and how long you expect to be out. For a three-day illness, you’d choose “illness or injury” and enter 24 hours. The system logs the call and notifies your supervisor.
eLRA on LiteBlue does the same thing from a computer or phone. Either way, complete a paper PS Form 3971 when you’re back at work. The call or electronic entry starts the record; the form finishes it.
What Happens After You Submit
Your supervisor reviews the request against staffing needs and any contractual requirements, then signs the form and checks Approved, Disapproved, or, for FMLA requests, marks the FMLA designation as Pending, Protected, or Not Protected. A signed copy comes back to you. Keep it. That copy is your proof of what you asked for and how it was decided, and it matters if a question about your attendance record comes up later.
A disapproval must include a written reason in the space provided on the form. A blank disapproval doesn’t meet the requirement. Your supervisor can also grant an alternate type of leave, for example approving LWOP when your annual balance is short.
Once approved, the hours flow into payroll, your balance is deducted, and the absence is recorded in the timekeeping system for your facility.
If Your Request Is Denied
A denial isn’t necessarily the last word. If you believe it was wrong, especially where contractual rights or FMLA protection are involved, bring your copy of the form to your shop steward or union branch officer as soon as possible so they can look into it. The grievance process and time limits depend on your bargaining unit’s collective bargaining agreement, and moving quickly preserves your options.
Don’t skip work after a denial expecting to sort it out later. If you don’t report after your request has been disapproved, your supervisor can mark the hours AWOL — Absent Without Official Leave. AWOL is a non-pay status, so you won’t be paid for the time, and it creates a disciplinary record. AWOL applies when no type of leave, including LWOP, can be granted, either because you didn’t get advance authorization or because your request was denied and you didn’t show up. It can support progressive discipline that moves from a letter of warning through suspensions and, in serious cases, removal.