Levels of sickness?

[nodelay]

What is the degree of sickness amongst Air Traffic Controllers? Do we take more time off due to 'stress related illnesses'' or do we suffer more from the common cold and everyones favouite - Flu?

At my unit ATCO attendance is generally very good - should this be rewarded and poor attendance penalised? And if so how could this be acheived?

[Turn It Off]

I think that sickness trends should be looked at.

Like people who are consistently sick on weekends should have their unsocial hours payments withdrawn.

every unit has them, and people at the same unit as me know who I mean.

[Gonzo]

I think it would be very interesting to see if there's a correlation between number of AAVAs/Overtime done and sickness levels....

[Bright-Ling]

LHR staff mentioning AAVA's...

...Shocking

[flower]

Compared to how it was TIO trust me we have no problems ;)

Interesting to see however how some people will come in do their OT or AAVA shift then promptly go off sick for their own duties.
Is that because they are not properly rested I wonder ?

[5milesbaby]

Our first year of AAVA's was like that Flower, but has got a little better now. ORO seem to have a slightly better grasp of whats happenning now, but weather they have actually done something about it we'll never know. This year will be one to watch however, as those that do not meet Minimum Unit Requirement (2 area groupings Tac and Planner) are not eligible for AAVA's. Thats cut about 10, maybe 15 willing volunteers, so overall the rest that do them will have more to do. They are already screaming out for March volunteers, God help us when it comes round to summer :}

Some of the Canadian Mounties can clarify, but NavCan operate that you can take 10 days sick per year, no questions asked. You can even phone in for leave, not get it, and then go sick. After your ten days have gone, you just get unpaid leave. I'm sure that for the few who take liberties things would improve in NATS with this, however the 'genuines' unfortunately will come in and share their germs freely. Any way its win/lose.

[Jerricho]

You rang 5miles.

Sick leave allocation is earnt as credits per calandar month you work. 10.59 hours are earnt for a month where an employee receives pay for at least 10 days work (works out at approx 15 days a year).

Of that, 10 "days' (aasuming an average shift is about 8.6 hours) of them can be "taken" without the submission of a "blue form" (medical certificate endorsement from a doctor etc....). Any sick leave not taken for the year is carried over (there are people with hundreds of hours sick leave owing, but it isn't paid out on retirement or whatever), but the 10 sickies a year still stands. There have been instances (you out there Coolen ;) ) of staff being interviewed regarding the amout of sick days they have taken.

As for requesting and being knocked back for leave and taking a sickie, I can't comment on that simply because I personally have never seen it done by anyone here.

[nodelay]

I agree 5miles, there will always be those who insist on recycling their colds/germs and whatever else through the air con systems, these people take great pride in saying 'I've had no sick leave for 10 years,' - Sick leave no, Sick/ill - yes!

Thinking about what Jerricho said, instead of carrying over sick leave year in year out with no real benefit to those who don't use it, how about as an incentive to those who perhaps abuse the system, extra leave for an acceptable above average attendance record which could then be commuted annually or saved and put towards going early. Browsing the internet, it seems that many companies are begining to tackle the 'thorny/taboo/don't go there' issue of poor attendance and how that effects the rest of the workforce.
It would be interesting to get a union take on this!!

[Sheilagh Blige]

There will always be those who take the p*ss with regard to sickness but there are times where, without a sympathetic approach to the situations that arise in normal day to day life ie kids are ill, other arf is sick, boiler has blown up!!!, this will always happen.

As Human factors are now more prevelant in our line of work, is it right that someone has to 'plug in' when they have real issues at home on their minds?

I'd rather that someone is honest and asks for the time off rather than throwing a 'sicky' to deal with a domestic matter.

[Jerricho]

Calling in sick has always been a contentious issue, as we all know. I know it's beaten into NATS student ATCO at the college of knowledge that if you turn up to work you're admitting you are 100% fit and well. Should (heaven forbid) you be involved in an incident, it's not a defence or an excuse.

However, as has been mentioned, we all know of individuals that take things to the extreme. I'm sure that skews the stats a little.

[Standard Noise]

I don't believe there's much difference whether you have a good sick pay deal or not.
My last unit let you have 10 days sick per year, before your pay was stopped, which could build year on year if you took no sick time off (up to a maximum over 10 years - TR help me out here mate).
My present unit gives up to six months full pay and six months half pay for sickness. Between the two, there really is no great difference. There will always be those who will cry off at the first sniffle, those who wait til they know they have a condition which affects their performance and others who are blatantly taking the p1ss out of the system. Regardless, at both units, the management require you to have a 'back to work' interview after a period of sickness. The management know who the malingerers are and deal with accordingly...........sometimes.

What winds me up, is those people who claim they are never sick yet come in and breathe on everyone when they are sniffling without regard to their colleagues, then get rewards from the company for 100% attendance while their colleagues are dropping like flies from the icolds/viruses the 'good attenders' bring in and spread around.:mad:

[Coast]

It's a shame to waste sickleave (a perfectly good day off!) by really being sick:O

[Deadcalm]

We are probably ALL guilty of unwittingly passing various nasties around.

You don't have to display symptoms (or even to succumb) to carry and spread many viruses and diseases, so the argument that having "sniffles" is going to infect everybody else just doesn't hold water. In fact, contagion is probably most risk-bearing pre-presentation (that is, before it's obvious....)

Besides, if everyone who had "sniffles" or just generally didn't feel 100% didn't bother to come to work, the whole operation would grind to a halt.

[Standard Noise]

Deadcalm - the point is that if you're not 100%, then you are a danger to your colleagues and the customers (pilots/pax whatever). There was one former colleague of mine who had a perfect sick record for many years, but who came to work while suffering from heavy colds, and the signs of flu, or so I suspected on more than one occasion. In that state, they could not have been fit for duty but he still worked, much to the dismay of his/her fellow ATCO's. That is the point I was generally making. I am not as doctor and have no medical training but that does not mean that people who come in with a 'condition' of some sort are categorically not spreading bad germs around their workplace.

I'd much rather the system grinds to a halt due to people being genuinely off sick than by someone who has an incident while at work when they should be off sick. We have had quite a few problems at Bristol this last year or so with sickness and at times it can be disheartening with all the shift changes from the norm to cover for it, but better that than having the sick in working when they shouldn't be!

[flower]

I have to say i am in agreement with Standard Noise on this.
If you are unwell you shouldn't be at work, and i really get annoyed when someone is coughing and spluttering all over you.

We all know the difference between genuine sickness and a gash day off.

( damn share a drink with the man and I have to write a post agreeing with Standard Noise :suspect: )

[Standard Noise]

Steady girl, steady. Sit down and have another bottle of house red!;)