Shift swap for ATCO

[SOO TA]

Dear all,

We ATCOs in Hong Kong are experiencing extreme stress from management in recent days, following an Admin Memo controlling shift swaps.

The main changes are to restrict the number of swaps to 5 per calender month (both the applicant and the replacing officer are counted swap once for one change); and to restrict the number of overnight shifts to 8 shifts per calender month.


The two rules seem acceptable, but counting the replacing officer's quota discourages the willingness of the one being requested for the swap. What's worse in the other paragraphs written on the memo, namely:

1. shift swap is not an entitlement of an ATCO, but a concession from the management;
2. shift swap to create a short vacation or lengthening a vacation leave outside HK is unacceptable;
3. shift swap must be with a valid reason, and shall not be used to entertain personal shift preferences.


The staff morale is so far the lowest and approaching a breaking point. We feel no respect from management at all. They simply worsen our working condition without consulting operational staff's opinion/consent.
Management is not willing to communicate with fellow staff at all.

May I invite comments or ideas, from our counterparts all over the world, to give us an objective view on this controversial issue?

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Why do you need so many swaps? I'm trying hard to recall any I did during 31 years at Heathrow....... not sure I did any!

[Dizzee Rascal]

What's the reason for the sudden limitation? If it was because a swap went wrong then it's understandable!

A colleague once told me that if he was prevented from shift swaps his sick leave would increase as he would take sick leave where he couldn't swap! Quite an unacceptable attitude really.

5 shift swaps a month is fair although I don't think it's fair that the person agreeing to do the swap should have it deducted from his own allowance.

What about senior ATCOs, are they also limited to 5 swaps, do they need to swap to attend last minute meetings etc?

HD, you probably never needed to swap because your annual leave allowance was 100 days a year or thereabouts!!:ok:

[letMfly]

The rules seem to be fairly reasonable to me as a safeguard to the operations.

Many years ago in Abu Dhabi, a few ATCOs swapped shifts to facilitate a short vacation in the Far East. Unfortunately they got stranded abroad and we really struggled to keep things going. The result was that management changed the roster from AAMMNNSOOO to MANSO so that it was impossible to leave the country on your day off! Fortunately the change didn't last long because severe fatigue soon set in with the new roster.

I also remember one ATCO in Dubai who swapped shifts so that he worked fourteen nights in a row which gave him an extra two weeks leave at the start of his annual vacation! Couldn't happen now - could it?

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

When I worked abroad with IAL I swapped a few duties in order to take a fam flight home with my wife and new son. On my main leave I was amazed to find the days I was out of the country were deducted from my leave!! When I took it up with the manager later he denied all knowledge, despite the fact that he had partly organised it!!!!!!!!!!!! Good old IAL!!

100 days leave at Heathrow? Well, almost. The watch roster plus leave meant I only worked 179 days per year if I played the leave right.

[Lon More]

At Maastricht our roster had us working 4 on, 2 off and we were not allowed to work more than 8 consecutive days so we were also effectively limited to working 5 per month.
There was also a limit on the total allowed IIRC after one controller manged to disappear for a couple of months to work in the family restaurant in Nice and another (a PPRuNeR) phoned from the Caribbean that he was nable to travel due to having diahorrea. Now everything has to go through a roster office.

[MorfArsenal]

Was there a reason for management to impose these restrictions on you?

I see no operational or safety argument, which would make shift swapping a bad idea.

I work TWR/APP in Copenhagen, Denmark. Our rota is 4 on 2 off. No more than 10 working days in a row.
Just had a look at my May rota. I've swapped 13 shifts this month alone. Some to help myself, some to help my colleagues.
I'm having a hard time seeing anything wrong with this.

/MorfArsenal

[No longer ATC]

Hey Heathrow Director-I was with IAL at EGGP !!

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I was at HLLT!!

[Willise]

In Canada, shift trades (we call them MUTEX - mutual exchanges) are very common. Most times, they are used to extend vacation leave or to take a day off when there are no leave places available.

Additionally, we have the ability to do a self-MUTEX. In this case, the controller can do a shift trade with himself. HE can move a day of work to a day of rest, provided the day he trades to is worked in advance. THe self-MUTEX is at management discretion, but is rarely denied. Regular shift trades between controllers is never denied unless in unusual circumstances.

The ability to do this is written in our contract.

[12255]

SOO TA

To understand better the situation in Hong Kong:

How many shift swaps do you do a month?

How many shift swaps have you been disapproved in a month?