My Take: AMP/SP
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My Take: AMP/SP
No lawyer here, but a bit concerned by the lack of analysis/direction by all ECs concerning the SP & AMP now in place.
Here's my take, please chime in with opinion - we need this.
Sick Policy - 3 day self-certify; more, get a sick note. If over 3 days sick and no sick note - EXPOSED. Get ready....
Absent Management Policy - Fired ONLY if CAD Med officer deems you unfit for all future duties (i.e.. Your previous sick-outs are due to an underlying non-flight qualifying condition).
Remember the following if called to answer....
"The application of the Policy does not imply that a pilot is doing, or has done anything in contravention of the terms of their employment and should not be confused with the Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure."
Their stated motive........
The aim of the Absence Management Policy........is to manage pilots’ absences from work in a caring, effective, transparent and lawful manner ......... with a view to timely identification of pilots...........with underlying medical conditions in order to help them return to flying duties........
OK, the IDing function aside - how's their "Management" apparatus going to work?
- why the face to face interviews. Cannot this information be relayed via other media? (Intimidation? in contravention of Company Policy?)
- if there is some "chronic" illness causing unfit, unknown to both individual and management - why is there no medical professional requirement at the Stage 1 interview to determine the underlying medical condition - in order to be "caring and transparent" (Again, intimidation, or just incompetence?)
- how could I possibly provide a Med note for a flu occurring 6 months earlier if asked? Crazy intimidation if requested I think.
- If self-certifying, I can see only providing CC "unfit" in 24 hr increments - there is no guidance on unfit period "time detail", nor is there detail on reporting FIT for self certification when the illness is finished (Do I call in and say "I'm good now" at 1803z?) What if I'm unfit for 5 hrs on Mon? That can't possibly be a "day" per the text in the notice, can it? So no issue, right? Why the lack of guidance?....or is it focus on......intimidation?...........
- The idea they propose that you might bring a UNION REP to a "caring" meeting to somehow identify some chronic problem and "help" you return to flying duties - even if you're done with the flu, pinkeye, and random URI for the last 6 months - and are actually flying. No, that's not reason to think intimidation, is it?
First, anyone who gets called for a Stage 1 interview ....... call in sick. You get 1 while you're on it - use it, this is the ultimate irony! When you do have to go bring a union rep. Take another Med Phys if asked. But really, the focus should be asking them "How can you help ME?"
Why aren't the Unions pushing back on this blatant use of intimidation?
Is any of this due to the settlement in the Joshu Omanski case?
Here's my take, please chime in with opinion - we need this.
Sick Policy - 3 day self-certify; more, get a sick note. If over 3 days sick and no sick note - EXPOSED. Get ready....
Absent Management Policy - Fired ONLY if CAD Med officer deems you unfit for all future duties (i.e.. Your previous sick-outs are due to an underlying non-flight qualifying condition).
Remember the following if called to answer....
"The application of the Policy does not imply that a pilot is doing, or has done anything in contravention of the terms of their employment and should not be confused with the Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure."
Their stated motive........
The aim of the Absence Management Policy........is to manage pilots’ absences from work in a caring, effective, transparent and lawful manner ......... with a view to timely identification of pilots...........with underlying medical conditions in order to help them return to flying duties........
OK, the IDing function aside - how's their "Management" apparatus going to work?
- why the face to face interviews. Cannot this information be relayed via other media? (Intimidation? in contravention of Company Policy?)
- if there is some "chronic" illness causing unfit, unknown to both individual and management - why is there no medical professional requirement at the Stage 1 interview to determine the underlying medical condition - in order to be "caring and transparent" (Again, intimidation, or just incompetence?)
- how could I possibly provide a Med note for a flu occurring 6 months earlier if asked? Crazy intimidation if requested I think.
- If self-certifying, I can see only providing CC "unfit" in 24 hr increments - there is no guidance on unfit period "time detail", nor is there detail on reporting FIT for self certification when the illness is finished (Do I call in and say "I'm good now" at 1803z?) What if I'm unfit for 5 hrs on Mon? That can't possibly be a "day" per the text in the notice, can it? So no issue, right? Why the lack of guidance?....or is it focus on......intimidation?...........
- The idea they propose that you might bring a UNION REP to a "caring" meeting to somehow identify some chronic problem and "help" you return to flying duties - even if you're done with the flu, pinkeye, and random URI for the last 6 months - and are actually flying. No, that's not reason to think intimidation, is it?
First, anyone who gets called for a Stage 1 interview ....... call in sick. You get 1 while you're on it - use it, this is the ultimate irony! When you do have to go bring a union rep. Take another Med Phys if asked. But really, the focus should be asking them "How can you help ME?"
Why aren't the Unions pushing back on this blatant use of intimidation?
Is any of this due to the settlement in the Joshu Omanski case?
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This issue has probably already soaked up more time in folks lives than it deserves. The policy has many potential legal traps which all favor the individual/union and all could easily ensnare the company if implemented poorly. Even if implemented well, the departure from self certification will certainly increase direct costs and quite likely result in even MORE down time of assets that could be used by the company (especially amongst older folks) in that most pilots underestimate, underreport, or understate health issues and increased scrutiny by a broad spectrum of doctors will undoubtedly find more stuff wrong and more stuff that needs more looking into (maybe this is even good in a way in that it makes it more likely to discover serious health problems that might not have been otherwise found). Take it at face value--'we're here to help' but also kick the ball into their court by requiring them to make time to take a union rep along too and document the goings-on. If for nothing else than to provide feedback on how they can 'better' help.
'course most of us know the answer anyway--"Fix my roster." The constant wild swings into overtime, roster instability, changes, incoherent rostering, WOCL ops with cobbled together crews, difficulty in commuting, inability to plan one's life, lack of any type of pattern or PBS preferences, and undermanning take their toll over time. Throw in fatigue, multiple time zone changes, body clock reversals, close proximity to others carting pathogens from all over the planet, dry air in the air and unhealthy air on the ground, radiation, unstable eating patterns, family issues, stress, etc. and you get a wholly predictable result. And it took about as long as a competent predictor probably would have thought.
People break exacerbating an already difficult situation caused at the core by undermanning over the years (with a root cause of trying to get by on the cheap--maybe intentionally with declining working and hiring conditions--again with wholly predictable results. Just like failing to invest in maintaining capital equipment results in the plant collapsing as it gets older the same happens with failing to invest in people. Somewhere along the line someone figured they could invest in the toys without also investing in the 'software' that operates the toys). Doesn't help that along the way crew controllers/rosterers decided to migrate away from stable published rosters and a workable A day system resulting in a continuous rolling schedule collapse--looking at tomorrow rather than next month or even next week--adding even more inefficiency by not being able to coherently flow out your assets and further breaking ones you still have. And having these go down at unpredictable times with absolutely no control over when and how they go down.
Ironically the quest for control has simply resulted in less and less control over what you have left. Folks who previously might have been willing to take one for the team become less and less willing to do so when they find out the team may not be there for them in their times of need. Instead of being motivated to go above and beyond and feeling a part of something great, their paradigm quite rightly (and exclusively) shifts to 'how do I keep myself and my family well.' These two goals aren't mutually exclusive--in fact in most successful companies they align very well (happy workers are VERY productive)--but for some reason the powers that be have made it so that they have become more and more divergent. Reversing this trend will be very helpful, but will only go a fraction of the way toward solving the core issue of undermanning and undermanning in experience level.
IF someone calls you in, you really don't need to say much--just "fix the issues" which is the core cause of the illness the company is experiencing (it's kind of interesting to me that the SP/AMP more accurately reflects a growing illness in the company rather than in individuals). If you get a different answer or 'cannot', probably best just to bring things to a conclusion and walk away and devote your time to better things. No need to convince someone else that you are right or really of anything at all--everyone knows or should know the situation we are in by now. No need for worry, no need to get fired up over something you can't fix. If they want a note, go get a note. If not, don't. No need to worry about what "stage" you are in--their metrics don't have to be YOUR metric.
In fact, the only ones I feel sorry for are the ones who have to write the letters and track this stuff. Undoubtedly it will fall to some lower level minion who probably already has a lot on his or her plate. AND it will take even more productivity away as someone now gets added tasks that don't need to be there; time is money so just administrating the program adds unnecessarily collateral costs. Not to mention the time of the people who might need to be brought in to be spoken to, or the time of those doing the speaking and letter writing.
I don't completely buy the 'intimidation' factor--one can only be intimidated to the extent he or she delegates this power to others. No one is shooting at you or trying to knife you in an alley, and few of us will starve anytime soon. If you are always doing the right thing--and this includes making time for yourself and your family--you have nothing to feel guilty about or try to justify. If you can look yourself in the mirror and believe you have acted properly that's more than enough--what anyone else might think doesn't really matter.
As far as YOUR actions--just keep doing what your'e doing to keep you and your family well and the hell with what some third party might think of it. Potentially more so as added pressures remove safety nets and add dominoes--take the time to evaluate what is really important in YOUR life and give it the time it deserves (indeed MAKE the time it deserves) to maintain YOUR wellness. You might have many jobs, but only get one life.
'course most of us know the answer anyway--"Fix my roster." The constant wild swings into overtime, roster instability, changes, incoherent rostering, WOCL ops with cobbled together crews, difficulty in commuting, inability to plan one's life, lack of any type of pattern or PBS preferences, and undermanning take their toll over time. Throw in fatigue, multiple time zone changes, body clock reversals, close proximity to others carting pathogens from all over the planet, dry air in the air and unhealthy air on the ground, radiation, unstable eating patterns, family issues, stress, etc. and you get a wholly predictable result. And it took about as long as a competent predictor probably would have thought.
People break exacerbating an already difficult situation caused at the core by undermanning over the years (with a root cause of trying to get by on the cheap--maybe intentionally with declining working and hiring conditions--again with wholly predictable results. Just like failing to invest in maintaining capital equipment results in the plant collapsing as it gets older the same happens with failing to invest in people. Somewhere along the line someone figured they could invest in the toys without also investing in the 'software' that operates the toys). Doesn't help that along the way crew controllers/rosterers decided to migrate away from stable published rosters and a workable A day system resulting in a continuous rolling schedule collapse--looking at tomorrow rather than next month or even next week--adding even more inefficiency by not being able to coherently flow out your assets and further breaking ones you still have. And having these go down at unpredictable times with absolutely no control over when and how they go down.
Ironically the quest for control has simply resulted in less and less control over what you have left. Folks who previously might have been willing to take one for the team become less and less willing to do so when they find out the team may not be there for them in their times of need. Instead of being motivated to go above and beyond and feeling a part of something great, their paradigm quite rightly (and exclusively) shifts to 'how do I keep myself and my family well.' These two goals aren't mutually exclusive--in fact in most successful companies they align very well (happy workers are VERY productive)--but for some reason the powers that be have made it so that they have become more and more divergent. Reversing this trend will be very helpful, but will only go a fraction of the way toward solving the core issue of undermanning and undermanning in experience level.
IF someone calls you in, you really don't need to say much--just "fix the issues" which is the core cause of the illness the company is experiencing (it's kind of interesting to me that the SP/AMP more accurately reflects a growing illness in the company rather than in individuals). If you get a different answer or 'cannot', probably best just to bring things to a conclusion and walk away and devote your time to better things. No need to convince someone else that you are right or really of anything at all--everyone knows or should know the situation we are in by now. No need for worry, no need to get fired up over something you can't fix. If they want a note, go get a note. If not, don't. No need to worry about what "stage" you are in--their metrics don't have to be YOUR metric.
In fact, the only ones I feel sorry for are the ones who have to write the letters and track this stuff. Undoubtedly it will fall to some lower level minion who probably already has a lot on his or her plate. AND it will take even more productivity away as someone now gets added tasks that don't need to be there; time is money so just administrating the program adds unnecessarily collateral costs. Not to mention the time of the people who might need to be brought in to be spoken to, or the time of those doing the speaking and letter writing.
I don't completely buy the 'intimidation' factor--one can only be intimidated to the extent he or she delegates this power to others. No one is shooting at you or trying to knife you in an alley, and few of us will starve anytime soon. If you are always doing the right thing--and this includes making time for yourself and your family--you have nothing to feel guilty about or try to justify. If you can look yourself in the mirror and believe you have acted properly that's more than enough--what anyone else might think doesn't really matter.
As far as YOUR actions--just keep doing what your'e doing to keep you and your family well and the hell with what some third party might think of it. Potentially more so as added pressures remove safety nets and add dominoes--take the time to evaluate what is really important in YOUR life and give it the time it deserves (indeed MAKE the time it deserves) to maintain YOUR wellness. You might have many jobs, but only get one life.
