Juan
For the avoidance of doubt, I would prefer no variable pay - just not at the expense of several thousands of pounds per year. Anyway I think the company is wrong about its suspicion that sickness rates have gone up because we are no longer on a variable flying hour rate. They have chosen to ignore the fact that they are now roster assigning people over the days off that they needed and therefore bidded for. You can have a low sickness rate and allow people to get off a roster assigned trip if they really need to, or you can accept that people will start actively bidding for trips over days they need off, planning to go sick because it is less likely to raise suspicion than going sick on a roster assigned trip. I'm not saying it is right, but it is what is happening and no amount of variable pay will change that.