When you call in sick at your company...

As long as you don't call in sick every Tuesday of every month, then talking to your chief pilot shouldn't be an issue (if you can get a hold of them). I had to tell CS that I couldn't fly 2 flights out of an 8 leg day because of ear pains......they said call the chief...I called and left a message.....didn't and haven't heard from anyone about it......

Omar, it sucks about your dad, but could it be that they wanted you to call your Chief just to keep him in the loop in case you needed a few weeks off?? I needed a month and a half off after my father died, and it was better that the chief pilot was involved because he took care of everything for me.......sometimes not everyone is out to get you.....
 
I think it isn't the issue of calling the CP or not. I think the issue is that policy changes at random and on a whim. Let's say CS tells you to call the CP this time around, you do and leave a message. No one gets back to you. You call in next time, and CS doesn't say anything. You still don't get in trouble for not calling the CP. Now, you're calling in sick a third time several months later, and they don't say anything. THIS time you get a call from the CP wanting to know why you didn't call in and what's up with this missed trip. You say "Uh, well the last time I called in, I didn't have to call you. They didn't tell me to call this time, so I figured it was okay." "No, the policy has changed. It's up to you to keep track of that, not CS. The missed trip stands." Not saying it's happening now, but the potential with such a swinging policy is there for that to happen. And guess what? You've got no recourse if that happens. Heck, they could potentially go back and change the previous one to a missed trip since you didn't call depending on what policy is, and there's nothing you could do about it. There needs to be ONE policy in place, and it needs to stay one way, not change randomly on the circumstances.
 
When I used to work at for a certain DCI regional, every absence was an "occurrence" If you had a schedule conflict and a chief pilot removed your trip, you got an occurrence. If you were sick for a trip you got an occurrence. If you were sick, went back to work and decided you still were not fit enough to fly, you got 2 occurrences for the price of one. 4 occurrences in 12 months and you got a letter in your v-file to see a CP. 4 occurrences resulted in you having to sign a letter which was put in your file. I think if you got 5 in 12 months you got a written termination letter, 6 in 12 and they could fire you.


FMLA was the only way you could remove an occurrence. My primary care doctor had to fill out so many FMLA forms for ASA FA's and pilots she ended up writing a letter to the company complaining about the "onerous burden" the policy was putting on doctors...
 
musicmixer said:
I called in recently and they told me to call my CP when I got a chance. I never called and I didn't hear anything else about it.
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If you work for an ALPA carrier, don't go in without a rep.

But don't think that it's not noted. These things usually spring up when you bend metal and they say, "Nah, you were fired for the tire, you were fired because of insubordination"

Be careful, seriously.
 
musicmixer said:
I called in recently and they told me to call my CP when I got a chance. I never called and I didn't hear anything else about it.
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I am sooo telling on you.

At the pinnacle, you need a note if you call in sick and it hasnt been 90 days since your previous sick call. As far as calling in, you just tell scheduling that you're sick and good bye. Our CPs/base managers are too busy mistripping people for other bogus reasons. haha.
 
blee256 said:
I am sooo telling on you.

At the pinnacle, you need a note if you call in sick and it hasnt been 90 days since your previous sick call. As far as calling in, you just tell scheduling that you're sick and good bye. Our CPs/base managers are too busy mistripping people for other bogus reasons. haha.
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Oh man. I had jury duty last year, and scheduling gave me a whopping ONE day off for that. So, I call the happy number, and they tell me to call the next day. So, I immediately call scheduling and tell them that I won't be available for that reserve day b/c of jury duty. A very confused scheduler informs me that I was on jury duty that day and asked if they were extending it. Obviously, they've never been through the JOY of jury selection. After explaining to them what the deal was, I was told "Well, we can only code it as a missed trip. Your base manager will have to fix it. <click>" So, it goes down as a MT. Two days later, I'm checking my V-file in MEM, and the base manager says "So, what's up with this MT from the other day?" "Oh, that. Here's the paperwork and the letter from the court house." "What? They gave you a MT for jury duty? Dumbasses." MT was changed to JD in about 30 seconds.

Oh, and my base manager pulled me from three legs and an overnight when I called her (on her day off accidentally) when Gavin broke his leg. I do have to say our base manager in MEM rocks.
 
That bites monkey butt. I had jury duty, called crew scheduling and they more or less told me to call when it was all over.

Low pay and treatment like that, geez, there's no Kit Darby pilot shortage, that's just the free market working! :)
 
Doug Taylor said:
That bites monkey butt. I had jury duty, called crew scheduling and they more or less told me to call when it was all over.

Low pay and treatment like that, geez, there's no Kit Darby pilot shortage, that's just the free market working! :)
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Part of it is the "get what ya pay for" in crew scheduling. Imagine the food court workers at ATL working in crew scheduling at Delta. See, you have to imagine it. We just have to call them, and we get reality. :)

Oh, and every once in a while, one of those crew schedulers wins the "dispatch scholarship," gets a dispatch rating and moves to a desk on the other side of the room. Now that person that couldn't grasp that 16.5 hours of duty violates FAA rules is the one planning your fuel....

I tend to take the X-files approach around here sometimes.....trust no one.
 
I called in sick over the Super Bowl. This year in fact, while Chicago was in it. Was I sick? You betcha I was. I went to the doctor, got a copy of the medical visit form and a note, and went in as soon as I returned to work with the copies in hand to the Chief Pilot's office. I mentioned that I had called in sick over Super Bowl weekend, and being that I'm a Chicago commuter, I didn't want them to assume it was a bogus call. The CP asked, "Were you sick?" "Yeah." "Then don't worry about it." He checked my attendance record and saw I haven't been a "repeat offender," and that was that.

Seriously, I think that if you take the approach of being honest and upfront about things, and don't try to skirt work or screw the company, you will be treated with respect. Obviously, the company culture has a lot to do with that, so your mileage may vary.

I figure, if you're sick, you're sick. Don't bring it to work, it will just make you and everyone around you miserable.
 
Doug Taylor said:
If you work for an ALPA carrier, don't go in without a rep.

But don't think that it's not noted. These things usually spring up when you bend metal and they say, "Nah, you were fired for the tire, you were fired because of insubordination"

Be careful, seriously.
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Good point, but do you really think they are keeping tabs on all the pilots who call in sick and don't call the CP? Sure if you are a trouble maker, maybe. I went into the CP's office recently for my 6 mo. interview and we went through my files together and there is nothing about my not calling the CP. I did however ask if he would like to see my doctors note and he said no. I think next time I call in sick and if I am asked to call the CP I will shoot him a quick Email and save it. that way I will have a record of it.
 
Probably depends on the CP as well. Our Chief in DEN is a great guy (did my IOE) and certainly isn't out to 'get you'. He has a job to do just like you and I.
 
bike21 said:
Probably depends on the CP as well. Our Chief in DEN is a great guy (did my IOE) and certainly isn't out to 'get you'. He has a job to do just like you and I.
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I agree. He's been more than accommodating when I needed time off, and helped a lot when I broke my arm. That said, I wouldn't (and didn't) call him when I called in sick one day. I just called CS and told them I'm sorry, but I'm not up for the trip and don't want anyone else on the crew to catch whatever it is.
 
And this, once again, highlights the inconsistancy problem. What if the "cool" CPs get jobs at places like Alaska, SWA, etc and leave? The next guy might not be so cool. He might be a stickler for the rules, and then everyone has to change what they're doing. If there was a consistant policy in place, it wouldn't matter if Ghandi or Hitler was the CP.
 
jdflight said:
I agree. He's been more than accommodating when I needed time off, and helped a lot when I broke my arm. That said, I wouldn't (and didn't) call him when I called in sick one day. I just called CS and told them I'm sorry, but I'm not up for the trip and don't want anyone else on the crew to catch whatever it is.
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Same here, won't bother him with a sick call. He is always crazy busy with more important stuff.

kellwolf said:
And this, once again, highlights the inconsistancy problem. What if the "cool" CPs get jobs at places like Alaska, SWA, etc and leave? The next guy might not be so cool. He might be a stickler for the rules, and then everyone has to change what they're doing. If there was a consistant policy in place, it wouldn't matter if Ghandi or Hitler was the CP.
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True that. It is unfortunate our CS is bad at dealing with policy interp. And that is exactly what it is. Interpreted different ways different days. Part of the problem is knew CS folks who are just trying to do their job w/o getting the supervisor involved. I can see both sides of it, but our management folk at CS need to follow the manual themselves and stick to it!
 
bike21 said:
True that. It is unfortunate our CS is bad at dealing with policy interp. And that is exactly what it is. Interpreted different ways different days. Part of the problem is knew CS folks who are just trying to do their job w/o getting the supervisor involved. I can see both sides of it, but our management folk at CS need to follow the manual themselves and stick to it!
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Not to overstate the obvious here, but a union would fix that. They'd be forced to stick to it instead of interrpretting it how they want on a given day. If they don't do what's laid out in the policy, they can't. Sounds like right now you have vague policy language that allows them to get shifty on you.

I had a flight cancel back in March, and we have to call CS to see what they want us to do. 9/10 times we just sit around or go home. This time they tried to re-assign me. The problem was, the flight they gave me ended WAAAY after my original duty time. I told them "Sorry, that's an extension, and I'm refusing it." They said "No. It's a reassignment, and you can't refuse it." After arguing back and forth, talking to a supervisor and pointing out the contract page number, they finally admitted I was right, and I went home. That's just one example of how having firm contract language can get you out of a jam with CS. Unfortunately, we have a lot of guys that don't bother to read the contract and let CS walk all over them.
 
Yep, I hear ya Steve. The good news that there is a manual and if we as pilots know it, we can't get pushed around.

Still, a full on contract would cause much fewer headaches :)

Any SKYW fence sitters on this board? PM me and we can chat.
 
Speaking of SKYW CPs I heard one hired 'handwriting experts' to get a guy who wrote bad stuff about him in the bathroom and used these 'handwriting experts' to compare them to signed flight release forms to get the guy fired.

These 'handwriting experts' were HS friends of his son. Any truth to this?

SKYWEST=ALPA
 
Seggy said:
Speaking of SKYW CPs I heard one hired 'handwriting experts' to get a guy who wrote bad stuff about him in the bathroom and used these 'handwriting experts' to compare them to signed flight release forms to get the guy fired.
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I am aware of a legacy carrier that uses handwriting experts frequently to help build cases to terminate employees.

Trust no one is right.
 
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