Greetings, and welcome to Branch 86 Veterans Readers Corner.
My name is Paul Norton. From October of 1993 to October of 1999, I proudly served our country as a United States Marine. I have been a letter carrier since January 2001, starting my carrier in Vernon, Connecticut and then transferred to Bristol in 2002. Since transferring, I have actively been serving our branch for the past 17 years as a Union Steward, and Alternate Steward and have attended many trainings to include Advanced Formal Step A and Beyond Training back in October of 2018.
In 2017 I was appointed as a NLRB committee member and in May of 2021 I was appointed to the position of Director of City Delivery for Branch 86. I have volunteered for our MDA canister drives, served as a MDA Golf Committee member, and also as a food drive coordinator in my local office.
I’m a big advocate of Veterans Rights. As we all know, being a veteran can be difficult. We all have many VA appointments, which can take up quite a bit of our sick time and even our annual leave. If you are not a career employee you are very limited in the amount of time you have to use to attend these appointments.
The Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015 was passed in November of 2016, and it clearly states that if you are a career or non-career postal employee and have a combined service-connected disability of 30 percent or higher, or a single service connected disability of 30 percent or higher you are eligible for 104 hours of Wounded Warrior Leave. This leave is listed as a separate leave category on your pay stub.
Below, are a few links to guide you with more detailed information on the Wounded Warrior Leave Act. Thank you all for your service to our country!