Failed Medical

[Hektor]

What happens to the ATCO if s/he fails a medical after 3/4 years. (3/4 years is example, what if s/he fails after 10 years or 30 years or 100 years since working for NATS)

Will they get sacked?

Thank you

Hektor G

[Hyperborean]

Depends who you work for. Some employers still provide loss of licence insurance, some never did. Then the question of time in situ arises, some employers may give you early retirement but this is less likely as time and the current financial fracas roll on. In my case I was diagnosed with a problem that required fairly hefty medication 12 months ago. I had been with my employer for 19 years and was due to retire in September. They kept me on doing odd tasks not requiring a licence until the magic 60. Full pay but no shift allowance so I was pretty well treated and this by an outfit that sometimes gets slated in these forums. I can think of some companies that would have dumped me. I suppose you just have to read the small print in the contract.

[cleo]

As stated above - it all depends on the employer. Some have excellent loss of licence insurance schemes, some have mediocre ones and some have none at all.

NATS current scheme is the best I know of in the UK as it pays the difference between your pension income and your salary at the date of loss of medical until retirement age.

It may not seem a big consideration when you're 25 and wondering if NATS is the place to be. The future is an unknown quantity and a good LOL scheme can be the difference between a financially secure medical retirement and a very impoverished existence.

[Vlad the Impaler]

That's what I thought too but one of my colleagues was looking into the NATS scheme and it isn't nearly that good. He reckoned he would take about a 40% pay cut on loss of medical so he has taken out a private policy to make up the difference. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick though (especially if it's your eyesight thats gone!)

[anotherthing]

I thought you got sent to the college to teach.... and would still be there even after not being valid for 20 odd years....:}

[Loki]

Had my licence varied twice ( in what might comically be referred to as a career) for health reasons. Got my medical certificate back and revalidated. In the interim, was shunted off into office/admin roles pending a clean bill of health.

[Hektor]

Ah ok. Thank you for tips.


Also, why does everyone hate the Nats so much? Everyone seems to be negative towards them.

Hektor G

[flower]

With regards to Loss of Licence in NATS it is how Cleo reported it not Vlad the Impaler.
Provided you remain unfit for work your pension is topped up by your Loss of Licence Insurance . Your monthly Income is almost what you had whilst working, it is indexed linked both the pension and loss of licence.
Where Vlads colleague may be confused is that whilst your pay figure drops as you don't pay NI or pension contributions your monthly take home amount is almost the same as when working.
To get NI paid you have to go through the palaver of Incapacity benefit , you don't get the benefit but they pay your NI contributions.

[Vlad the Impaler]

Fair enuff. I was only passing on second hand info so I stand corrected.
With regards to why there is so much anti NATS feeling on these boards the pay and pension issue is a major part of it.
It is also unfortunate that many NATS controllers fail to see how the economic plight should have any bearing on us as the mighty air traffic controllers that we are. It is true that our terms and conditions are not what they once were and should the pension vote go with the union recommendation then there will be a further degradation. If you compare our situation with that faced by members of the BT pension scheme or any number of other organisations up and down the country who are having their pension benefits totally destroyed then I think that given the current situation we are doing better than most.
I can only assume that a large proportion of my colleagues have never worked outside NATS or its predecessor and I can assure them that having worked ****ty jobs for ****ty companies for ten years before I joined in 2000 that NATS are a pretty decent company to work for and far better than most. Of course there are issues as with any big organisation but I think that the bottom line is that we as a profession have had it good for so long that the thought of being dragged somewhere near most people's idea of normality is a step too far.
I for one am grateful to work for NATS and not be one of the hundreds of thousands of people up and down the country wondering what they will be doing for work this time next year.
Rant over :)