Doc,
You say things like "should" as a subjective statement on how things would be in an ideal situation, but the normative reality is that people are being charge one point regardless of reasons provided... sick, security breach at TSA screening, power outage, bad weather, flat tire, child birth, etc.
In terms of Management discretion for a "good employee", I have personally seen a "good employee" who screwed-up by picking-up a full-time shift but confused the days and ended-up with a no call, no show... and no phone call from Management either. From Level 0 ("good employee") to Level 2, so much for Management benevolence. [/quote
Jester:
Unfortunately, in the current environment mandated by Tempe, you are right on both of these accounts. I was a Fleet Services shift manager in PHL, CLT, and PIT from 2005-2010, and I can honestly say that my demise most likely came about because I gave the employees the benefit of the doubt whenever possible. I routinely adjusted agent shifts in Workbrain to cover for events outside of their control, such as traffic accidents, weather events, TSA security delays, and validated sick events.
On top of that, I took the time to call tardy/no-show agents at home, or got a shop steward to call them when they failed to show up, and then I worked with them to either adjust their shift, or create a time swap in the system if they had a good reason for their error. Good managers look out for their people because the manager is only as good as his people. The abusers of the system will eventually find their way out, because you can't cover for them every single time, but in rare instances, the manager DOES have the ability to reward good employees through shift adjustments and swaps.
The problem is that most shift managers don't understand how to work with PEOPLE, and they toe the company line to a fault. In the end, they have a group of employees who are disgruntled rather than cooperative. This makes the shift manager's job that much more difficult.
When I was in CLT and PIT, I could ask anyone on the ramp to help me when the operation was going south, and I had more than enough support to get things done. I know of several other managers that couldn't get help no matter what, and they resorted to unnecessary tactics such as mandatory overtime because they had to . It's amazing what can happen if you care enough to take care of your employees.