F/a Sick Calls And No Contacts

[PITbull]

Mark,

The only problem I see with your logic, is you still insist there is a "sick abuse" going on with the employees of U in general.

You may blame the system as you imply partly, but I am here to tell you that the "sick" that exists today is very real. Received an e-mail today form a f/a who stated that his coworker was coughing on the jump seat the entire 4 days. He felt sick the 3 day. HE is so upset with this. The f/as who flew sick did not want to call in sick so came to work sick because of the pay penalties in place. Management knows this. You may think, "well, this is good", because the employee came to work and bit the bullet, but look at who this employee is infecting including our passengers. This is the reality and mangement refuses to acknowledge that they have created this monster themselves.

What they have done, truthfully here, is reduced the staffing across the board to the point of "critical". They have hired a new department with RNs and a physician who looks at only employee "lost time". So each sick call becomes magnified 10 fold because of this "reduction in force". Again, fear and intimidation, guilt for being ill is put on the employee by management through this department. Don't tell me this isn't true. I know for a fact! I make it my business.
This new "medical Review" department started first in PHL for a few months and now they have taken all the bases employee "lost time" including DENIALS for FMLA and PCL system wide.

Your idea of "incentive" is all well and good for that small percentage of abusers who exist in any company. However, the reason you are not seeing an improvement in sick calls even with the pay penalties in place is because your "hypothesis" is incorrect. Think in those terms for awhile, and you may have a realization and maybe you will be able to then convince those in mangement of a "real" solution to this issue.

THE FOLKS at U ARE REALLY ILL. This issue on "sick" has become a "double edged sword for the company; those who come to work sick and infect others and also, those who get sick and just can't come to work, even with the pay penalities they have to endure that are in place.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Bob -

Once again you touched on something very important and nearly non-existent....incentive. Under one of the previous management teams there was a task force put together to address just such an issue, finding an incentive program to help lessen sick abuses and inspire employees to strive to improve their attendance. Dear old Uncle Al offered the following statement when it came to incentives. "If your pay check isn't motivation enough for you to come to work every day, then you don't belong here."

I agree 100% the entire sick policy and lack of a reward system are wrong. Again, there are faults on both sides of the table and management should be taken to task to fix their part of the problem too. If they would do the right thing, perhaps it would help avoid similar situations also.

I remember hearing about that little gem from A.C. a few years back. That type
of attitude is not unusual in management across corporate America. When Dave was hired, I remember mentioning to my manager how I hoped that Dvae would bring in some of the incetive programs described by Gordon Bethune in "From Worst to First". Among other things, they included rewarding staff who don't call in sick with monetary awards and being eligible to be in drawing for a new car. This was quarterly, I think. At the time, CO's wage structure was somewhat below that of most majors, yet they were judged one the best companies to work for (by J D Power, I think).

Someone like AC, believes that what was, at the time, a high pay rate compared with other carriers, is reward enough. Another management style is that W-2 pay isn't everything. Corporate culture and respect for those who toil matter also.

Another example of the latter style was shown when CO closed its LAX maintenance base. Instead of having security guards lock up the building in the wee hours of the morning, Bethune flew out to LAX and announced the base closure personally, making the case it had to be done, given the airlines finances. Yes, the people who worked there still had to go through the pain of furlough or cross-country transfer. But the way the situation was handled made a great deal of difference.

CO and a few other carriers reward employees with $25.00 or $50.00 bonuses based on DOT stats. $50.00 wont pay the rent but still lets the employees see some
fruit of the efforts they have put in. In a better way than a "way to go" itemin a company briefing.

 

[PITbull]

Bob,

Answer to your question above with a "show no go" and you don't answer any more calls from crew sched and arrive to sign in, is 2 hours flight pay loss pay and credit. For a junior person that is approx $50 bucks. if you are senior, its $80 max.

If you happens to answer your phone and you are in route...you get nothing. This happens quite frequentely.

 

[goodstew]

Hi Piney - those of us on 'reserve' status (usually the ones called at 2am) are not allowed to just 'not answer the phone' even after being given an assignment. That is a 'no-contact'. We are fired for that. I myself after 14 years on the job was sitting on the toilet at 8am on a Sunday morning (after returning home from a 4 day trip at 9pm the night before) when the phone rang. I finished up, wiped flushed and returned the phone call 2-3 minutes later. Was told I was given a NCT and contacted mon morning to come in for an 11 am meeting with my supervisor to 'explain myself'. Meeting is mandatory and on a day off. It would be nice for a 40 year old man with 14 years of spotless service to be able to enjoy a few minutes alone on a sunday morning. Not with USAirways...

 

[Fly]

goodstew Posted on Sep 23 2003, 12:41 PM
Hi Piney - those of us on 'reserve' status (usually the ones called at 2am) are not allowed to just 'not answer the phone' even after being given an assignment. That is a 'no-contact'. We are fired for that. I myself after 14 years on the job was sitting on the toilet at 8am on a Sunday morning (after returning home from a 4 day trip at 9pm the night before) when the phone rang. I finished up, wiped flushed and returned the phone call 2-3 minutes later. Was told I was given a NCT and contacted mon morning to come in for an 11 am meeting with my supervisor to 'explain myself'. Meeting is mandatory and on a day off. It would be nice for a 40 year old man with 14 years of spotless service to be able to enjoy a few minutes alone on a sunday morning. Not with USAirways...

Unbelievable!!!

 

[MarkMyWords]

Mark,

The only problem I see with your logic, is you still insist there is a "sick abuse" going on with the employees of U in general.

Once again, we are at a stale mate. I will continue to insist that there is a sick abuse problem, because I see it nearly everyday. Not only in the ranks of the F/A's, but in all areas. Perhaps we can compromise and say that there is a problem here both legitimate and abusive.

If you don't like the idea of an incentive program, what would you recommend?

 

[stewbear]

Piney Bob,
:unsure: I have to hand it to you.....everything you said is the correct way to get the employees motivated. Why is it so simple to find this common sense approach on this message board but NOWHERE in the real world. The employees are begging for someone to motivate them. Threats and intimidation are not working....people will fight back in anyway they can... I wish they would get a clue....all books and numbers do not make success. Airlines are in the people bussiness.... However, there is no compassion, understanding, empathy or sympathy for anyone that actually drives the bussiness or serves the customers. The employees need support from the top to serve you better. Please find us a LEADER and MOTIVATOR.

 

[usacrew3]

I just heard of 2 incentive programs offered at US Airways. The first is in support of the BOB (Bring On Board) program. If you sell the most meals on a flight you are eligible for a $25 check included in your paycheck and it is subject to taxes. The other is if you manage to find someone who will enroll in the Bank of America visa program you are eligible for, I think it was $50, included in your paycheck again tax deductible and the card has a $70 per year fee.
Can anyone confirm too that the duty free checks due to the international flight attendants have not been distributed by the company because US Airways changed vendors? <_<

 

[RowUnderDCA]

I just heard of 2 incentive programs offered at US Airways. The first is in support of the BOB (Bring On Board) program. If you sell the most meals on a flight you are eligible for a $25 check included in your paycheck and it is subject to taxes. The other is if you manage to find someone who will enroll in the Bank of America visa program you are eligible for, I think it was $50, included in your paycheck again tax deductible and the card has a $70 per year fee.
Can anyone confirm too that the duty free checks due to the international flight attendants have not been distributed by the company because US Airways changed vendors? <_<

How dis-heartening. So instead of U's f/a's being incentivized to provide a efficient, pleasant, on-time, comfortable, safe and SECURE flight, they are being incentivized to get into my wallet. So, now I get trapped in a room with schmoozy, manipulative sales people IN ADDITION to the guy that I'm sitting next to. How about peddling life insurance and condo time shares and gambling chips?..... lovely.

 

[USAirBoyA330]

Trust me when I tell you I am not in retail sales and I won't be peddling ANYTHING on my flights. Most of the other F/As I talked with feel the same. Nothing is more annoying than going into Macy's or some department store and being nagged into opening a credit card account. It's a little degrading and I don't care how much they throw in my paycheck. I have a college degree from a very good university and management can't seem to get it through their thick skull that most of us DO. We do this job because we like it and because it used to make us happy.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

Trust me when I tell you I am not in retail sales and I won't be peddling ANYTHING on my flights. Most of the other F/As I talked with feel the same. Nothing is more annoying than going into Macy's or some department store and being nagged into opening a credit card account. It's a little degrading and I don't care how much they throw in my paycheck. I have a college degree from a very good university and management can't seem to get it through their thick skull that most of us DO. We do this job because we like it and because it used to make us happy.

Well, you have my respect.

 

[Dea Certe]

PineyBob said:

3A- Establishment of a "Focus Executive" Program. Every Front line Manager, Every level 2 manager on up to and including VP, Sr VP, CEO will be given 5 travel agencies to call on once per quarter. The larger the opportunity the higher level the executive. Failure to perform these calls will result in termination

3B - All VP and above level staff will visit at least 5 stations and meet and great employees and customers alike. They will be required to fly COACH, to gain insight into the customer experience. They will be required to personally greet EVERY Customer on their flight and hand them a business card. Same for employees. In addition each executive must visit one US Airways Club per quarter and introduce him or herself to everyone there.


Excellent idea Bob! I've wanted to see something like this forever. I think it would go such a long way in helping management understand its product and its customer base. Our management seems to be really out of touch with what our customers want and need. A program like this could greatly improve our service and with any luck, help management appreciate our customers and employees are not the enemy.

Thanks PineyBob!

Dea

 

[TVLOOPS]

Bob talks about VP's should visit at least 5 stations well you will like this. AC was appointed station manager where I once worked. He showed up and walked around and then flew out on the same plane that he arrived on. Never saw him again.

So don't expect VP's to visit stations.

 

[PITbull]

.


Bob and Markmywords,

I will attempt to stick to the topic of this thread.

Reread my post regarding the correspondence to MMW. I stated that there is no sick abuse as he eimplies as a general widespread uncontrolled problem. I had stated that there is sick abuse among employees in all companies, but for U, mostly it is because employees are really SICK. If management would do a study, they will find that the "sick occurrences" have acutually increased EVEN WITH PAY PENALITIES THAT ARE SO SEVERE. So one has to ponder the question...why?

Could it be that employees are sick and getting sicker?

Bob, you speak of incentives to stop sick abuse. But, you didn't speak to the problem of folks protecting their pay, AND NOW COMING TO WORK AND INFECTING EVERYONE AND MAKING MORE EMPLOYEES SICK.

Could that be the reason why the SICK calls are up? One has to wonder? If you actually had a sick abuse problem in your company, and disciplines for abuse were put in place in the form of huge pay penalties... you could deduce that the sick calls occurences should be going down or at the very worst... stay the same. If the opposite occurs, then a company should look to see what other factors are contributing to these sick occurences in this alledged "sick abuse" they proport. And, if a company sees that the pay penalites in place as a discipline do not stop folks from calling in sick...do you then still maintain that it is employees abusing the sick call...what? Just because? Or is it appropriate to look at it through another perspective and investigate why employees continue to call in sick inspite of pay penalties. Your incentive theory would never work, if folks who call in sick (who you think are the abusers) actually take pay cuts! Not only that, but you bonus, pay incentives for not calling in sick, actually give people the INCENTIVE to come to work sick, even when they absolutely should not, whereby, infecting others and pepetuating an increase in sick calls because of spread of infection.

Now, let's look at my point of view as a Registered Nurse:

I believe it is safe to say that many on these boards and folks you speak to on the job will tell you that fear and anxiety are high and that employee morale is very low. This state of the employees has been present for at least 2 years, specifically since 9/11.

I think that it is also safe to say that it is well known in the medical community that High level stress and anxiety disorder cause many health related conditions and diseases. So follow me on this....

1. Adrenalin/epinephrine releases when high level anxiety, continuous stress, and depression are present. This can lead to hypertension, heart arrhythmia, tachycardia, heart disease, auto immune disorders, pulmonary disorders, headaches, etc..

2. High level anxiety/stress/depression can create sleep disorders, dehydration, loss of appetite or poor appetite causing many digestive problems/disorders, irritable bowel disorders, sexual dysfunctions, menstrual disorders.

3. High level anxiety/stress/depression can lead to eating disorders, alcohol, and drug abuse, mental illness, and all the problems that effect one socially and professionally that go along with that.

4. Then consider all the medication that needs to be taken to correct these disorders and all the side effects that go along with taking medication.

So, tell me please once again that the employees are abusing sick, and with all that has ensued, they could not possibly be experiencing any of the above.


Now, I believe management knows that this is happening and prepared themselves for it by making sure that they received cost savings by slashing Worker related injury benefits, Long Term Disability benefits, instituted pay penalities for sick, denials of FMLA and PCL and forming a NEW "Medical Review" Department to monitor ALL THE EMPLOYEE LOST TIME. So, will they attempt to improve morale?Answer: NO. Why? Because we will no longer be a cost to them on any level. They made sure of it.

I REST MY CASE!

 

[PITbull]

Bob,

You didn't read my post. Or, you ignored the issue I presented. Incentives will not address this problem at U, because pay penalties for sick are not decreasing the sick calls. And since most in mangement think the way you do, we will not see improvements in this arena.