Attention Pdt Pilots

[FMEpilot]

Management has changed the occurance policy for calling out sick. Basic change EACH DAY YOU MISS WILL COUNT AS 1 OCCURANCE. If you are sick for 4 days you get 4 OCCURANCES. The new policy was just posted on the company website under the CP page.

 

[Metro752]

Dayum!

 

[Raoul Duke]

can someone post the policy, that is outrageous

 

[ex j-41]

First person to get fired as a result will have a great law suit to file.
Sounds like everyone should take next friday off and let management know what they think of this memo. Everyone.....

 

[kf4amu]

To clarify, you don't get a letter about your occurrences until the 10th one...so you basically got 10 days of sick time before you get a letter about it.

On the 13th, you get a counseling session and verbal warning in your file.

 

[WSurf]

That sucks! However

Yep, it only takes a few idiot pilots to take advantage of a program before the company changes the policy. We had too many people taking advantage and riding 15-20 days off a year.

Just like when we used to get hot crew meals. All it took was a couple of idiots also to complain to the company about them not being hot for that progam to end too. So now we get crappy sandwiches everywhere.

I guess with our contract coming up it might be time to get the battle plans ready.

 

[FMEpilot]

However, your past occurances fall under the new policy, so if you have 4 over say 9 days and you get the flu this winter and miss a 4 day...

 

[WSurf]

To clarify, you don't get a letter about your occurrences until the 10th one...so you basically got 10 days of sick time before you get a letter about it.

On the 13th, you get a counseling session and verbal warning in your file.

Thanks, I didn't read it yet. But that seems to be how it was before our current policy.

 

[Axel]

Ah, yes. The Many must suffer for the sins of the Few.

 

[kf4amu]

Intermittent FMLA is a beautiful thing

 

[Booker]

Ah, yes. The Many must suffer for the sins of the Few.

Indeed. Who knew grade school would prepare me for the airlines?

Anyway, what a bunch of crap all around. I once flew with a guy who said he hadn't used sick time in years, so he was going to take a month off. One occurrence, no-fault policy. Beautiful. I heart PDT management. :angryfire

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

Guys...

Any time you go to the doctor and you have any illness or injury that requires you to be out of work for 3 days or requires follow up care- That is FMLA! and the stupid occurrence policy cannot TOUCH you.
Go to the doc, pay your $10.00 and don't sweat it.

It is amazing to me that they are so desperate to save dough, yet they pay an outside company to review FMLA claims... The number of which are double what they might otherwise be but for PDT's hysteria about sick time. Amazing.

 

[flyslow24]

Sick time is negotiated. Period.

If the company has a problem paying it out then they need to negotiate awarded sick time in the next contract talks.


Sick? Define it! Flu, Stomach bug, stress at home, tired, taking a day off, whatever it does not matter IT'S NEGOTIATED!!!

Do not let tactics try to put your under the impression that all of a sudden you will be fired for using something that was awarded to you.

 

[Booker]

Sick time is negotiated. Period.

If the company has a problem paying it out then they need to negotiate awarded sick time in the next contract talks.

Strongly, strongly agree. At my current job, our director of crew planning once said that if every pilot cashed out his sick bank, the airline would go bankrupt. Well, WTF? Why the eff do I get a whopping five hours a month if the Company isn't prepared to allow me to use it? Again, :angryfire .

 

[kf4amu]

Guys...

Any time you go to the doctor and you have any illness or injury that requires you to be out of work for 3 days or requires follow up care- That is FMLA! and the stupid occurrence policy cannot TOUCH you.
Go to the doc, pay your $10.00 and don't sweat it.

Yea well its a royal pain in the ass. The company pays the contractor. They work for Piedmont, not the employee. They will give you so much crap and headache about your FMLA forms, which are not "approved" until a couple week after you send them in, so you have no idea if they will deny it for some stupid technicality.

For example...if the doctor puts "1-2 weeks" they will only approve one week. They interpret 1-2 weeks as "1 or 2 weeks" instead of "up to 2 weeks", but it takes 15 emails to get that explanation. Meanwhile you get occurences if you are out more than a week.

So its not really a "don't sweat it" deal, but for those of us that call in well, and rejoin our trips once we get over the 24 hour bug, it's a better policy.

 

[Sig]

Anyone a little peeved that we have an LOA that just got shot out the window? A negotiated part of THE CONTRACT?

It is a unilateral change to the thing. So what if we told them to pound sand when they asked for a concession to this? They can't throw up their arms and say, "Eff it. We're changing this, and putting it in the FOM." Might as well slash our pay 85% and put THAT in the FOM. The union's position: We will not sign a danged thing that restricts our earned sick time use any futher.

Their reaction? Just kinda break the law, and stuff.

It isn't over. What could such a sneaky, snarky, simpleton "brown-shoe" failure at everything possibly do more to finally give us all something we can all get pissed about? Perfect job well done in 5 pages.

 

[zasca]

I'm guessing the average sick call is a 4 day stretch. We did not get our hand smacking until five occurrences with the old policy. So now it's like we lost one occurrence from the old program but gained the flexibility of spreading out the sick calls to more individual stretches per year. Albeit much shorter ones. Not cool...

I also love how many exceptions they have to a "no-fault" program. Eff these effing azz's.....

 

[Sig]

Did you read it carefully?

They call it a no-fault program, yet at the end of that same paragraph, it explicitly says that fault/no fault is irrelevant.

They also give themselves a broad brush when they describe what 'abuse' is, giving them the right to terminate you at occurrence #1. If you get the squirts on vacation and miss a day of work, the way I read this bucket of tripe means you CAN be terminated.

Nice one. ILLEGAL, but nice.

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

What isn't spelled out in the program is what happens when you call in well. At least in my case, Piedmont has been less than willing to get me back on my trip after a 24 hour "bug." So what, am I going to have to sit STBY in the crashpad when they can't get me back on my trip? Or are they going to use this to make life on the RSV sitters even more unpredictable than it already is?

I think it is definately worthwhile to codify whatever our sick policy is going to be in our next contract. That way it is harder to make unilateral changes to the policy or to use that neat little clause in the FOM that basically says you can get fired anytime you are determined to be "undependable," regardless of what the policy at the time might be.

 

[Sig]

The only thing spelled out in the program, writ large, is this:

We hate you sorry scumbags, and want you nice and scared by May so you don't get any silly, pie-in-the-sky ideas of improving your lot. Be thankful you have a job, because we now have the "power" to yank it from you.

Again, that niggling detail regarding how this sort of thing already exists in the contract....

Heck, I'm going to publish an FIL rendering crew schedulers' requests moot. Fly whatcha want! It is just as stupid as regarding this thing as legitimate.

 

[LowlyPropCapt]

The only thing spelled out in the program, writ large, is this:

We hate you sorry scumbags, and want you nice and scared by May so you don't get any silly, pie-in-the-sky ideas of improving your lot. Be thankful you have a job, because we now have the "power" to yank it from you.

Again, that niggling detail regarding how this sort of thing already exists in the contract....

Heck, I'm going to publish an FIL rendering crew schedulers' requests moot. Fly whatcha want! It is just as stupid as regarding this thing as legitimate.

...So true.

 

[WSurf]

Like I said earlier its time to sit in the cockpits and formulate a battle plan.

Could there be furloughs in our future?

If PDT is going back to running this airline low staffed this policy works better for them.

 

[NCFlyer]

Anyone a little peeved that we have an LOA that just got shot out the window? A negotiated part of THE CONTRACT?

It is a unilateral change to the thing. So what if we told them to pound sand when they asked for a concession to this? They can't throw up their arms and say, "Eff it. We're changing this, and putting it in the FOM." Might as well slash our pay 85% and put THAT in the FOM. The union's position: We will not sign a danged thing that restricts our earned sick time use any further.

Their reaction? Just kinda break the law, and stuff.

Without looking it up, my memory is that the LOA regarding sick leave is that the company is only required to give the association 30 days notice of any proposed change. There is nothing in the policy, other than the accrual rate that is negotiated.

We knew this was coming. The company notified ALPA of the change several months ago. The only thing that was uncertain was, how will the change from "trip" to "days" will be handled.

 

[kf4amu]

What isn't spelled out in the program is what happens when you call in well. At least in my case, Piedmont has been less than willing to get me back on my trip after a 24 hour "bug." So what, am I going to have to sit STBY in the crashpad when they can't get me back on my trip? Or are they going to use this to make life on the RSV sitters even more unpredictable than it already is?

True in my experience. They won't work you back into your trip until you are in base. So if you commute, you may make a 2 leg commute to base, through a hub, then you sit there for 24 hours while they figure out how to get you back on your trip, which is a deadhead or two.

They won't add you to your trip when you are passing through the hub, where it's easy to move you around the system.

In reality you can just nonrev to catch your trip and get there faster.

 

[SLUF4]

You guys get sandwiches for crew meals? All we get is some type of disgusting jello and trail mix.

 

[kf4amu]

You guys get sandwiches for crew meals? All we get is some type of disgusting jello and trail mix.

They make you sick though. And it's an occurrence.

Except Philly. We get Au Bon Pain there.

 

[CutEmUp]

NOTE
Abuse of excused absences will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.

This statement just blows my mind. How is it possible to "abuse" jury duty, or absence required by state or federal law, etc. If they think it is being abused why would they excuse the absence in the first place.

I say we change over to what other industries have done. "PAID TIME OFF." If you are sick, take time off...if you have a doctors appointment, take time off...if you don't feel like coming to work, take time off. I would be willing to accrue fewer sick hours just to be able to use them when ever I want without fear of disciplinary action.

 

[SLUF4]

What kind of sandwiches are they? I'd be scared to eat most anything probably. Yeah, I don't like the occurrence system-we have it at ASA too. I understand some people will abuse the system, but overall I think most crews just want to do their job.

 

[Metro752]

They put a PSA pilot on involuntary medical leave because he called in fatigued, and supposedly are questioning his physical fitness to perform his duties.

I hope he can manage to find a good attorney if these screwballs keep this up.

 

[mu2]

I think it is definately worthwhile to codify whatever our sick policy is going to be in our next contract. That way it is harder to make unilateral changes to the policy or to use that neat little clause in the FOM that basically says you can get fired anytime you are determined to be "undependable," regardless of what the policy at the time might be.

That's why they are doing this. Steve knows that this has to be one more thing on our list to ask for.

Example: We want 11 things and Piedmont will give us 8. Which 8 things do we want?