PS Form 5980 is the treatment verification form USPS employees submit after using Wounded Warriors Leave for an in-person medical visit tied to a VA service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or more.1United States Postal Service. PS Form 5980 – Treatment Verification for Wounded Warriors Leave The form has three sections: you fill out the first, your healthcare provider signs the second at the visit, and your supervisor approves the third. It has to reach your supervisor within 15 calendar days of the day you return to work, or your absence may be reclassified as sick leave, annual leave, or leave without pay.
Before You Go: Fill Out Section A and File a PS Form 3971
Wounded Warriors Leave takes two forms, and the first one goes in before the appointment. Submit PS Form 3971 (Request for or Notification of Absence) to your supervisor in advance — generally no later than the Wednesday of the week before your appointment. Select “Other” as the reason and write “Wounded Warriors Leave” in the space provided. If the treatment is unplanned, submit the 3971 as soon as you return.2United States Postal Service. Requests for Wounded Warriors Leave
Then start Section A of PS Form 5980. You can download it from about.usps.com or ask your supervisor for a copy. Section A asks for:
- Your name (last, first, middle initial)
- Your postal Employee Identification Number
- The date you are completing the form
- Your installation (work location)
- The date of the appointment
- The time of the appointment
Below those fields is a certification statement. By signing, you confirm the leave is for a service-connected disability rated at 30 percent or more, that your VA documentation is already on file with the Postal Service, and that you understand the 15-day submission deadline. Sign and date it.1United States Postal Service. PS Form 5980 – Treatment Verification for Wounded Warriors Leave
One prerequisite worth checking: if you’ve never established Wounded Warriors Leave eligibility with the Postal Service, the timekeeping system may reject the entry and code your absence as leave without pay. Eligibility is set up by sending your VA disability rating letter (or OPM certification) to the HR Shared Service Center. It’s the employee’s responsibility to make that happen, not the agency’s.3United States Postal Service. Management Instruction EL-510-2019-2 – Wounded Warriors Leave You can confirm your status by checking Box 11 of your PS Form 50 in eOPF.
At the Appointment: Get Section B Signed
Bring the form with you. Section B is the piece that most often derails a Form 5980, because it needs the provider’s signature and it needs to happen in person. Telehealth and virtual appointments do not count — the form defines treatment as an in-person visit for your service-connected condition, including examinations, evaluations, and any course of treatment the provider prescribes.1United States Postal Service. PS Form 5980 – Treatment Verification for Wounded Warriors Leave
Your provider completes:
- Their name
- Their medical specialty
- The name of the healthcare facility
- A contact telephone number for the office
- Treatment details, if you need additional leave beyond the appointment date for ongoing treatment, follow-up visits, or recovery time — the provider describes the frequency and duration here
The provider then signs, dates, and prints their name. That signature is what verifies the visit occurred and that it was for your certified disabling condition. Without it, the form is incomplete, and the leave will likely be recoded to sick leave, annual leave, or LWOP. Try to get the signature at the appointment itself rather than chasing it down afterward.
After You Return: Submit to Your Supervisor Within 15 Days
Turn the completed form in to your immediate supervisor within 15 calendar days of the date you return to work — not 15 days from the appointment.1United States Postal Service. PS Form 5980 – Treatment Verification for Wounded Warriors Leave The distinction matters if you took multiple consecutive days off for treatment and recovery; the clock starts once you’re back on the job.4United States Postal Service. Requests for Wounded Warriors Leave – Section: Verification
Your supervisor handles Section C. They review the form, mark it approved or disapproved, and sign. A disapproval requires a reason or reason code. Ask for a signed copy back once it’s processed, and keep it.
Miss the 15-day window and there’s no formal extension process in the management instruction. The absence stays covered as some kind of leave, but not the kind you wanted — it will typically be reclassified to sick leave, annual leave, or LWOP.
Confirming the Leave Posted Correctly
Once Section C is approved, the leave is entered into the Time and Attendance Collection System under code 014 (Wounded Warriors Leave). Look at your next earnings statement and confirm the hours came out of your Wounded Warriors Leave balance rather than your sick or annual leave.
If the leave is denied, you should get a reason. The common ones are a missing provider signature, no eligibility documentation on file with the HRSSC, or an attempt to use the leave for something other than an in-person treatment visit. A denial doesn’t turn the absence into an unexcused one; the hours get reclassified to another leave category. If you think the denial is wrong, start with your supervisor and escalate to the HRSSC.
Keep a personal copy of every Form 5980 you submit. If your leave balance later looks off, or a review surfaces months down the line, the signed copy is what proves the absence was verified and approved.