The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

appendix D | how to use the cd-rom | 407
Using Government Forms
Electronic copies of useful government forms are included on the CD-ROM
in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. You must have Adobe Reader installed on
your computer to use these forms. Adobe Reader is available for all types of
Windows and Macintosh systems. If you don’t already have this software,
you can download it for free at www.adobe.com.
All forms, their file names, and their file formats are listed in appendix.
These form files were created by the Department of Labor, not by Nolo.
Some of these forms have fill-in text fields. To create your document using
these files, you must: (1) open a file; (2) fill in the text fields using either
your mouse or the Tab key on your keyboard to navigate from field to field;
(3) print it out.
Saving a filled-in form: Newer government forms are enabled with
“document rights” that allow you to save your filled-in form to your hard
disk. Version 5.1 or later of Adobe Reader is required. When you open these
government forms in Reader, you’ll see a document rights message box if this
feature is available. If you are using an earlier version of Adobe Reader, you
will be prompted to download a newer version that will allow you to save.
You will not be able to save government forms that do not have document
rights enabled, but you can still print out completed versions of these forms.
Forms without fill-in text fields cannot be filled out using your computer.
To create your document using these files, you must: (1) open the file;
(2) print it out; (3) complete it by hand or typewriter.
Step 1: Opening a Form
PDF files, like the word processing files, can be opened one of three ways:
• Windows users can open a file by selecting its “shortcut” as follows:
(1) Click the Windows “Start” button; (2) open the “Programs” folder;
(3) open the “FMLA Guide Resources” subfolder; (4) click on the
shortcut to the form you want to work with.