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1. WHAT IS CONSIDERED PROPER USE OF SICK LEAVE?

a. CBA, Section 14.A.1. The purpose of sick leave is to protect a pilot from loss of pay, to the
extent of his sick leave accrual, when he is unable to perform his assigned duties because of
injury, physical or mental illness, or fatigue.

(1) The message here is that if you're sick you shouldn’t come to work - you're not doing the
Company or your fellow crewmembers any favors by reporting to work when injured, ill, or fatigued –
it’s not safe, and it’s probably an example of bad headwork.

(2) On the other hand, if you're not sick, then use of sick leave as a scheduling tool is
inappropriate and is a matter of integrity – enough said! If you need to get off the schedule for
some reason and you're not sick, then try to trip trade, drop the trip, or call any ACP – we can
help!

(3) Sick leave is only for use when YOU are sick. If someone in your family is sick, e.g., the
kids, wife, etc., and you need to get off the schedule to care for them, try to drop the activity
in VIPS; if this doesn’t work, contact the ACP or the Duty Officer for assistance. (If pay is an
issue, we have the option of awarding an unscheduled vacation.)

(4) Fatigue for purposes of the CBA is more than the physiological state defined in Webster’s
Dictionary. Specifically, we can’t call in fatigued and use hours from the sick bank to pay for a
trip unless we’ve already begun the trip. In other words, we can’t call in fatigued prior to the
start of a trip. (Note: If some life event has caused you to be “fatigued” prior to the start of
a trip I AM NOT SAYING THAT YOU SHOULD FLY . . . I am saying that you shouldn’t call in fatigued.
Instead, try to drop the activity in VIPS; if this doesn’t work, contact your ACP or the Duty
Officer for assistance.)

(5) The last thing to consider is the Jumpseat Certification Guide, which states, "if you are on
suspension or leave of absence (personal or medical), sick leave or worker's compensation, you are
not eligible to use the jumpseat". Not only is this the policy, it also makes good sense: if
you’re sick, you may not be able to safely egress the aircraft in the event of an emergency; or at
the very least, your illness may expose other crewmembers to whatever it is that ails you?

b. CBA, Section 14.A.6., The Company may require the pilot to provide his Regional Chief Pilot
with a written statement from the pilot's physician explaining his inability to perform his
assigned duties if: (a), the Company has a good faith reason to question a pilot's use or attempted
use of
sick leave; (b), the absence of duty occurred in conjunction with his vacation period or a holiday;
(c) the pilot has requested to use his disability sick account.

(1) The last thing anyone in Flight Management wants to do is spend time during the day questioning
one of our fellow pilots about use of sick leave, so I can tell you now that none of us are on a
witch hunt looking for sick abusers!

(2) But, sick activity is tracked automatically, and it’s nice to know what will put your name in
lights. Following are the reports generated regarding sick activity that are sent to the VP of
Flight Operations and others below him in the chain of command:

(a) VIPS Sick Report for 7 or More Sick Calls in 365 Days. The average FedEx pilot calls in sick
about 3½ times per year, so this report identifies pilots that call in at twice the average; but
what purpose does this information serve? Personally, I like to know how to measure myself against
other golfers - other than by height and weight! Knowing what the average is, if I was actually
sick this many times in a year, I’d probably call my doctor to see if everything was OK. If I
wasn’t actually sick yet I had called in this many times . . . well, we all know the issue here . .
.

(2) Irregularity Reports for Sick Less Than 4 Hours Notice, and Sick In the Field. These generate
interest for at least two reasons. First, if a crewmember has “fallen and can’t get up,” we want
to know this as soon as possible so we can provide any required assistance. Secondly, these
instances impact flight operations and our ability to meet customer expectations for on time
delivery. We follow up on these to ensure affected trips are covered with either a Reserve or
Draft crewmember - believe it or not, this is not always possible.

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