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Airline Targets Sick-pay Abuse

BoeingBoy

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Airline targets sick-pay abuse

By Thomas Olson
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 4, 2004

US Airways said Wednesday it aims to save more than $100 million this year by curtailing employee abuse of sick time, as part of its ongoing search for cost reductions.

Article

Jim
 
WOW!

$212,000,000 in lost time for sick calls is obscene.

PineyBob - You had some opinions in the past about this issue, so with this new fact, what is your opinion today?
 
As long as it's not draconian, it could help. The last thing we need, though, is something that encourages sick people to come to work.

It's sad that something like sick leave, which tends to work on the honor system, gets abused.
 
It all SPIN!

Employees are getting sick and we are an older population of workers...so instead of offering early outs, mangement decides to implement harsh punitive sick polices to rid themselves of the folks who get sick. They are implying we are liabilities to the corporation.

They are starting to rapidly get rid of our sick older f/as. These are not only arbitration cases BUT WILL BE, and are EEOC AND ADA CASES. Rest assured!

It is dishonorable and illegal of any company to attempt to get rid of older workers because they pose a potential liability to the company in benefits. The new policies that have been put implaced that Jerold Glass eludes to are policies THAT DO NOT EFFECT THE ABUSER, because they have no sick time available. These policies have effected the longstanding employee who sits with hundreds of hours in a bank and rarely was ever ill in their career. Those are the ones the company has effected. They know, we know it, and I know it, and soon the courts will know it. They just don't want the public to know it.

And if you don't believe it, look how they endeavor to reduce costs. $1.5 billion cost reduction which is more than the summer and winter conessions combined, and with a much more reduced work force than the summer of 2002. Those are the realities we are living with.

I am not opposed to concessions. I am opposed to impoverishing your workers.

If every f/a gave just in w-2 $1,000, for the 5,200 f/as left on the property, that translates to a mere savings to the company of $5,200,000 per year. That's the difference between a f/a surviving or not. But the return to the company is insignificant to the $1.5 Billion requested of labor. Our Summer and Winter concession for the f/a is a reported $106 million per year of cost savings. Approx $540 million over the term of the contract. The real value of our contract was given in the winter concession. I don't believe our entire contract is worth $10 million in cost savings today, outside our pensions. We cannot get to the number that the company will need to seek. And that is what is worrisome for all. Not counting the job losses that productivity enhancements will create as a consequence in any group.
 
Bob,

If I am reading you right...you got it.

The danger of incentives to reduce sick, when folks are broke, is they will come to work sick, whereby infecting even more people, especially with folks who have compromised immune problems. Example: folks on steriod therapy for allergies. This medication will suppress histimine release but also will suppress the immune system from responding to antigens and bacteria, viruses, and the person is open to infection. And that is happening. Not only are their pay penalities in place, but on top of that, these are terminable offenses to the co.

Excessive sick
Sick on contact
Sick on assignment
Or just plain sick for 1 trip... bigger penalty than calling off sick for half your monthly block hours. That is the only way to make yourself whole. So, you know folks will seek to make themselves "whole". I have made some recommendations to inflight. We shall see what they do.

It appears that our VP in inflight is working towards improving morale. She has taken up the task of getting more proactive in piloting different incentives and is open to suggestions that will even possibly work to bring morale up, incentivize the f/as on other issues, and work more closely with the union.
 
More details will be available in the next issue of the in-house "newspaper" due out in the next couple of days. For those with access to "the Hub", the issue is already posted there.

Biggest changes seem to be a forthcoming companywide "employee dependability program" and the hiring of an outside vendor to look at all sick incidents & determine how long an employee should be out for that illness/injury.

Jim
 
Jim,

And when an outside vendor dictates how long a person can be out, it contridicts the treating physician of the employee. If managment is going to take on this kind of liability, than they should also start having physicians in-house to treat the worker at no cost. And I mean prescribe medication, the whole nine-yards.

All employees should be reading whatever documents they sign and give to the co. regarding their absences. Any documentation that has a "letter of understanding" attached which releases the company of any litigation, liability associated with giving information of personal health record or entering an employee assitance program, must not be signed. If it is a condition for the leave, contact your union rep asap.
 
PITbull said:
It appears that our VP in inflight is working towards improving morale. She has taken up the task of getting more proactive in piloting different incentives and is open to suggestions that will even possibly work to bring morale up, incentivize the f/as on other issues, and work more closely with the union.
Hopefully this is a step in the right direction to get your ideas heard and reduce the pay penalties for those that are legitimately sick vs those that are abusers. I know we have had this conversation many times before and I know that you have some great ideas. Hopefully she will be receptive to opening an honest conversation and work towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Best of luck to you.....Keep up the good work on this issue.
 
PineyBob said:
212 Million Dollars divided by 28,000 employee works out to a little over SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH!
Wow, ya mean I missed out on $7400 last year? What was I thinking? :shock:

Is that number attainable by just paying sick calls or are they considering costs involved with covering ot/coverage of the sick shift and possibly OJI costs as well?
 
stoopidute442 said:
Earn 'em and Burn 'em!!!!!!!
one benefit i got paid for in advance!
took my week vacation and 2 comps....don't worry...i got it in the bank jack!
 
PITbull said:
It all SPIN!

Employees are getting sick and we are an older population of workers...so instead of offering early outs, mangement decides to implement harsh punitive sick polices to rid themselves of the folks who get sick. They are implying we are liabilities to the corporation.
Pitbull! I work the front lines, and for years our sick policy has been abused over and over again. Granted morale and "not caring" plays a role however using sick time simply because you wanna watch the superbowl isnt a good excuse. I have heard and seen the abuse . You can have up to five before a drs note is requested and most play it to the hilt. Thes bad apples are few compared to the over all group but we all pay the price. I dont se how you could argue this. You know as well as i do the abuse has been great.
 
PineyBob said:
tadjr said:
PineyBob said:
212 Million Dollars divided by 28,000 employee works out to a little over SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH!
Wow, ya mean I missed out on $7400 last year? What was I thinking? :shock:

Is that number attainable by just paying sick calls or are they considering costs involved with covering ot/coverage of the sick shift and possibly OJI costs as well?
Tadjr,
They yank a number out of the sky and publish it. As PITbull pointed out you have to look inside the numbers. Does that number include for instance ALL of the administrative costs that HR incurs?

No one on this board can say for certain exactly what the 212 million is made up of. Typical Glass! Throw a number out and make Labor scramble to defend the indefensible.
Thanks for being on the light and not the dark side of this issue Bob.

The way they are treating employees, they should be thankful the sick time loss is not ten times that amount!

Personally, I agree with the one poster...earn em and burn em, just like they burn us.

Working at U literally is making people sick with all the punitive policies and broken contracts and broken promises. The reason most people want this place to survive at this point is to collect severance, which says it all.
 
usfliboi said:
PITbull said:
It all SPIN!

Employees are getting sick and we are an older population of workers...so instead of offering early outs, mangement decides to implement harsh punitive sick polices to rid themselves of the folks who get sick. They are implying we are liabilities to the corporation.
Pitbull! I work the front lines, and for years our sick policy has been abused over and over again. Granted morale and "not caring" plays a role however using sick time simply because you wanna watch the superbowl isnt a good excuse. I have heard and seen the abuse . You can have up to five before a drs note is requested and most play it to the hilt. Thes bad apples are few compared to the over all group but we all pay the price. I dont se how you could argue this. You know as well as i do the abuse has been great.
USfliboi,

I HAVE WORKED THE LINE FOR 23 YEARS. Don't tell me about the front line, pal.

And from where I sit, YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT I KNOW. I know the problems intimately.

Management is demanding Dr. notes for almost every single sick call. You are way out of touch with today.
 
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