Days Off while on layover
 

I know that according to the legal documents every month my company has to give me 7 days off. But my problem is I am flying ambulance and they arrange my off days while I am not at home base. For example; last week I had to spend 5 days in Dubai and for two days we did not have a sceduled flight. Then they said those two days would be my off days. Also one of my collegues had spent 6 of his off days while abroad last month.

For that reason I would like to ask if there is a rule written somewhere about having days off at home base.

Anyone have an idea?

Thanks in advance…

Depends on your State, but generally there can’t be a ‘rule’.

Some pairings will inevitably last longer than 7 days, so down route has to be an option.

However, days off should be notified in advance, and a reputable company may also specify ‘days off at base’ per month or make some other arrangement.

The rules only require you to be ‘adequately rested’ - having a life doesn’t always get a look-in.

Good luck.

If EU this helps.

https://osha.europa.eu/en/legislatio...ive-2000-79-ec

That is worker's rights and employers duties.

But avoid jumping to conclusions. FTL rest days are not the same as those required above.

Normally airlines don't differentiate between the two types. And they can give you OFF-REST downroute legally as long as the 96 OFF-HOME + vacations are respected where they should be for the given calendar year.

Thanks for the replies. 🙏

"having a life doesn’t always get a look-in." This explains everything. Instead of working to live, I will be living to work then.

Welcome to aviation!

A sad fact of aviation as has been. The good news is that it is fast becoming only the more unscrupulous employer that does not allow for at least 7-8 days at home base when using days off. I would suggest abandoning your current employer at the first opportunity if that is how they treat you and let them learn the hard way when they cannot recruit staff that can allow them to operate as they currently desire.

Days off down route were a problem in a previous operator I worked for, along with standby days becoming your days off, even though you were on a one-hour callout to airport report standby, which didn't allow a very long leash to actually use those days for anything more than popping to the supermarket. Even heading out for a run would be difficult if you did say a 10k loop, factoring in having a shower and cooling down, and then getting to the airport. Swimming as fitness? Forget it mate. Can't miss the call... Of course, you can file a duty period for these, but unless you have a defined start and end to the "standby other than at the airport," then you can guess the operator's intentions here.

Days off down route and standby days becoming a day off shouldn't be a short term solution to a problem of excessive demand, and the paperwork should match up with what you were doing - so if you are doing a lot of standby duty, then this should be accounted for as part of your cumulative duty. If the roster instability becomes the norm, it's clear the operator doesn't have enough crew and a decent FOI should be able to see what's going on. Unless they're being presented with a different roster...

I think your only course of action is to assess the situation amongst your colleagues, and if there is enough dissatisfaction, broach the subject as a group. In the shorter-range end of the market this can become pervasive as you fly an hour to sit eight hours in an FBO (Hotel room? No need mate; just turn the lights off and hope the other twenty pilots crammed in their on a day-stop will keep quiet...) then fly back and crawl home. Doing that day in day out, as is common on short-range aircraft, can be difficult to withstand in the long run. Do your days off down route become actual days off, or can they revert back to duty days if a flight comes in? One way to resolve that would be to be genuinely off down route - although I guess being in air ambulance that is not morally as easy to accomplish.

This can be a wonderful job - usually because of the people you share the cockpit with and the support you get on the difficult days. A work-life-family balance is incredibly important. And ultimately, if you can't fix it, move on at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately high turn-over doesn't effect change in these types of operators as there is usually an underlying problem with the business model or management.

Good luck - you're not being unreasonable wanting to have a work/life balance.