United Airlines contends that flight attendants appear to be abusing sick time on weekends this summer. It has introduced new reporting requirements it hopes will discourage such behavior. But trying to address this problem through punitive new rules may create an even larger problem for United. So what is United to do?
United Airlines To Flight Attendants: We Want To See Proof You Are Sick If You Take Sick TimeUnited reports that flight attendants are calling in sick on weekends over the summer at an alarming rate:
We have seen a significant increase in sick calls over weekends this summer. The uptick-as high as 23%-suggests that some flight attendants are misusing sick leave. We never want you to come to work when you’re ill, but misuse of sick time means other flight attendants have to cover those trips, and our customers are at greater risk of travel disruption.As a result, United is requiring—effective immediately—an “absence certificate” for flight attendants who take a sick day on Friday/Saturday/Sunday “until further notice.”
This increase in sick calls has resulted in the need to require flight attendants to provide verification of an incapacitating illness from an accredited physician when making a sick call. Effective July 21 and until further notice, all flight attendants who call in sick for trips departing/reserve days on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays are required to submit an absence certificate. This is necessary to prevent the abuse of sick leave from disrupting our operation and to ensure sick leaveManagement couldn’t be bothered to wait until this unprecedented crisis was resolved to blatantly violate our Contract; they had to do it right now, in the midst of the chaos. This is a clear indication of just how tone-deaf management is. Upon informing the Union just this afternoon about the new requirement and the forthcoming announcement, MEC President Ken Diaz told them in no uncertain terms it is a violation of our Contract that would be grieved, yet they moved ahead anyway. This is also a reflection of the ongoing state of deteriorating labor relations within the company.
It will file a grievance (a formal complaint) concerning the policy, but that will not stop the policy from going into effect until the grievance is resolved.The Service Dog Analogy
I struggle over whether to reluctantly support or reject these new requirements. No worker should feel compelled to come to work sick. No company should have to tolerate workers who lie about being sick in order to enjoy extra time off.
United has handled this issue the way I would handle service dogs. As I’ve written about repeatedly, I have noted a proliferation in poorly-behaved “service dogs” onboard. There are a number of approaches to this problem. One would be to ban all dogs. That’s about as practical as banning flight attendants from calling in sick on weekends.
At the other end is maintaining the status quo, which is leading to continued and escalating abuse.The “happy medium” seems to be that you need more documentation to claim a benefit, in light of the abuse. Will there be good and decent flight attendants caught in the fray? Oh yes.
But the blame should not be on United, but on their colleagues for cheating the system. A 23% uptick in people calling in sick…only on weekends? Come on now, that should not have to be tolerated by any employer.
But it’s those individual cases that make it so difficult. It’s not easy to get a same-day appointment anywhere. Going into an urgent care center and sitting there for an hour to get a doctor or PA or NP to say, “Oh yeah, you have a fever. Just rest” seems so counterproductive. And flightseems so counterproductive. And flight attendants domiciled in California, where this sort of thing seems to be illegal, may be uniquely suited to fight this requirement.But again, what else is United supposed to do? It should not have to incentivize people to do the work they are paid for and it strikes me as a bit like democracy, the “least worst” system among alternatives.
And sorry, but employees who are up in arms about having to surrender such personal information are working for a company that demanded each employee be vaccinated (and the AFA cheered) and a form that has been around for years for sick leave over holiday periods…this is no surprise.
CONCLUSIONI realize this whole discussion is foreign and perhaps obscene to our readers in Europe…but I saw the abuse of sick policy when I worked in Germany and I’m not sure the “ask no questions” approach is better.
Ultimately, I think when you treat employees well, they won’t game the system. I suspect that flight attendants will be less likely to engage in such behavior when they secure a new contract.
That doesn’t in any way condone the current antics of flight attendants calling in sick because they want a day off (which could even be seen as an illegal work slow down). But when there is mutual respect, there is no need for such measures…the bad apple should be pruned by co-workers.Yes, the union rues:
All those meaningless phrases like, “Good Leads the Way” and “Core4”, continue to be just that, meaningless. Management’s actions are reprehensible. While extremely frustrating, management has made up and then implemented these new rules in violation of our Contract, but we must comply with them in order to avoid management taking “disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.”
But ultimately, I didn’t see the union telling its members not to abuse the sick policy…