Sick Tracking System Changes
 

Does the new system seem like a huge invasion of privacy, and an infringement on our personal rights? Our union signed off on this? I assume this was another loss on our part?

Discuss...

Read the grievance settlement, it sounds like the company might be making their policy sound as threatening as possible for the scare factor. But it sure ain't what was in the contract.

So....you see your doctor and he/she writes a note that is not detailed enough for the PAC / Fleet Management / Company Doctors (any or all) - WTF do you do now?

Go back to the doctor and say: "Put some more sh!t in that there letter about my personal medical problems so I can use my sick leave."

Looks like Fatigue calls are going to increase. Don't need a letter for that one. If I get a severe case of "Ball Rash" - it will probably keep me from sleeping properly. I'd rather go that route than send a doctors note with a picture of my glowing red junk.

Cannot believe the Union signed off on this.

I really think this whole thing about my doctor disclosing all my sexually transmitted diseases will put me into emotional jeopardy for about 686 hours of sick time!

From the HIPAA website:

Requests from your employer
Your employer can ask you for a doctor’s note or other health information if they need the information for sick leave, workers’ compensation, wellness programs, or health insurance.

However, if your employer asks your health care provider directly for information about you, your provider cannot give your employer the information without your authorization unless other laws require them to do so.

Generally, the Privacy Rule applies to the disclosures made by your health care provider, not the questions your employer may ask.

See 45 C.F.R. §§ 160.103 and 164.512(b)(1)(v), and OCR's Frequently Asked Questions.

For employer issues, contact:

Department of Labor: (866) 4-USA-DOL
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: (800) 669-4000

My question:

Can the employer force you to give them detailed information if you don't want to?

They're not forcing you, they're just not paying out the sick time. I'd have to go reread the FCIF, but I believe it specifically says that if you can't/won't provide a sick note there is no discipline involved. You just lose the pay for the trip and the hours get restored to your sick bank. Basically, you just dropped the trip for no pay.

So...they aren't going to pay us anymore, but we won't face discipline for it. Big Win!! :cool:

In other words, they are denying the use of an negotiated and earned benefit. In this case, a benefit negotiated away.


The FAA's own "IMSAFE" Personal Checklist, which we can find on the first page of the ALPA Pocket Calendar, is more comprehensive than the absence of illness or injury. Under this Sick Tracking System, a mechanism NOT found in our CBA and NOT ratified by membership vote, only illness or injury are considered. Any pilot who is evaluating his own state of health, welfare, and suitability to work will now have to consider how the doctor might word the sick note and whether the pilot can afford the hit to his paycheck. Whatever situation the pilot finds himself in will then be exacerbated by the additional STRESS of having to choose between going to work when he is NOT physically and mentally safe to fly or exposing personal information to a doctor not of his own choosing and taking the chance his Chief Pilot will not be satisfied with his decision and then reduce his paycheck.

Do you want the guy sitting next to you to be there because he can't afford a reduced paycheck, despite the fact he is not in some way not fit to fly?

Pilot pushing.

Not safe.






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Funny how it takes months or even years to implement any "programming" that benefits the pilot group. It when it is in their best interest a system can be set up in a matter of days.

I cannot belive the union signed off on this. WTF were they thinking?

We lose over and over again. I can't wait until they dork up our retirement.

FSR
 

I will submit an FSR every time I call in sick. I will mention that I did not meet one of the IMSAFE parameters, and that FedEx no longer recognizes the government mandate for pilot self monitoring. Once the FAA gets a few thousand FSR's we might get some relief.

I'm in for $100. Lets all pull together, and retain a HIPAA lawyer. It would be like a type of "union" to help protect our livelihood, since it would appear we don't have a union in place now.

The last time I got a Dr note, he wouldn't put the reason for the visit on the letter. Even though I explicitly asked him to do so. His understanding of the law, prevented him from stating my illness to my employer. What happens when your doc won't list your illness?

Can anyone imagine what the new and improved retirement plan is going to look like? Probably need a note from your doc to allow you to retire, but only if the chief pilot believes the note. In which case if he doesn't believe it, your retirement will be moved to an upper management slush fund for them to use for dinner parties, where they discuss various pilot illnesses and they vote to determine who is the grossest guy or gal out there.

We will tout it as a win, since the word slush is in there, and we all know how hot it is in MEM right now, and who can deny that a slushy doesn't sound good when we're sitting in the cockpit without the APU running?

WINNING!

My doctor too will only put "under my care" in sick notes. I'm at a loss at how I will be able to follow this specific injury or illness statement requirement. I'm also puzzled, like other posters, at how I can follow FAA self assessment requirements when the company apparently now only recognizes illness or injury as legitimate reasons?

Question for the smart, regulatory folks: do the FAA or federal laws require paid time off if one is sick?

Fatigue
 

Oh, and while I'm at it. The fatigue call won't help you either. This is what happened to me under the new system.

Called in fatigued after a multiple revision trip ending with a hub turn. Very little sleep with multiple min rest periods, going into another extended duty period. They dropped the trip. It went to the review board and it was determined justified. This means it is not eligible for sick time use. That's right. Call in fatigued because of scheduling shenanigans, and you get the bonus of losing pay. But, it did go into my make up bank so I can pick up another fatiguing trip at my own convenience.

How do we get the union to stop "helping" us?

Couldn't find the settlement - anyone got a link or verbiage?

On pfc it is linked in the "news" story.

There are definitely legal obstacles for the provider disclosing your diagnoses/health problems on a "doctors note". Technically, he/she has to have you sign a release each time you request a doctor's note indicating such detailed health conditions. The generic statement of, "being treated for their health condition" is apparently not enough for the company.

I'm not sure how precise the company wants the diagnoses? My guess is the provider can make a statement without disclosing the actual diagnoses. For example, patient is being treated for a respiratory illness versus acute pneumonia or patient is being treated for a Urinary Tract illness versus Gonorrhea which gives him an inability to perform his or her duties.

I agree, its really pushing if not exceeding the limits of maintaining a patient's privacy!

Did you call fatigued before the start of a trip, or in the middle of the trip?

At the end of one revised trip, during the hub turn before the next revised trip. Total sleep was around 5 hours, in what would now with the revision, be almost 36 hours. The hub turn was reduced to one hour. The safest thing I could do, was not fly. The loss of pay was well worth not losing my life. No regrets, but the itch if you will, is that 6 revisions on the first trip, hub turning into the same trip, starting with the same original revision, was very unsafe. The new system board, cleared me as justified, and docked my pay.

I don't do makeup, so putting time into my enormous makeup bank is of no worth to me. And, yes I'm aware that is a choice I make.

So only Fleet Management and the Aeromedical Advisor can see the pilot's sick event! This Aeromedical Advisor is contracted with Harvey Watt. Do these people hold a license to practice medicine or is it some pilot and a nurse making the decision whether or not the pilot was able to do their assigned duties? These "doctor's notes" are now medical notes which fall under the "practice of medicine" and need to be reviewed and signed by licensed Physicians, not management and nurses!

I believe Harvey Watt's division that does Aeromedical Advising is staffed with MDs.

Here's what I found on their website:

AeroMedical Services

The Only AeroMedical Provider Featuring:
The esteemed service of the former director of the FAA AeroMedical Certification Division who is responsible for authoring many of the rules and regulations followed today by the FAA.
Only full-time Senior AMEs, a rare designation given exclusively to the worlds most experienced and respected AMEs.
A complete staff of medical specialists that have received the FAA AME training in Oklahoma City.

I have my doubts a real Physician is going to review thousands of pilot sick notes. They will more likely delegate these tasks to a paralegal or nurse and rubber stamp it!

One of the things I find a bit devious is the end-around of medical privacy this settlement agreement and implementation of the STS program accomplishes.

Previously, you could send a letter and/or discuss with Harvey Watt medical details and they would simply relay to the company that you were fit or unfit under the FARs for medical qualification. It was my understanding that zero medical details were passed--the whole purpose of the Aeromedical Advisor was this buffering of medical privacy.

This STS ticket system is accessed by Harvey Watt AND fleet management. For the first time, medical note details from your sick note are directly given to management--a horrible agreement for our union to have ever agreed to. I'm glad my doctor won't say anything else than "under my care" in his sick notes per his policy. I guess I'll be seeing trips dropped without make up or pay under this implementation. One of the interesting side effects of this policy I think is that the company will see increased use of sick leave across the pilot group as the "downside" of having to get a note when calling sick over holidays is removed. Now you'll have to get sick notes more frequently and the onus of holiday sick just becomes like any other day, and if your doctor won't violate his interpretation of HIPAA, you get the day off legitimately sick--you just don't get paid. Welcome to a creeping move back towards pilot handbook days again where the company gets its way with very little protection for us. Very disappointed in ALPA that a clear aspect of the contract is now changed with very little effort by the company. Harrison and Ford wins again.

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Dr Kendall fulfilled this Aeromedical Advisor role for the company for many years and I believe he built up a reservoir of trust with the pilots as I had never heard one word from anyone that he violated their medical privacy, he was very quick and complete in his reviews, seemed to be a very straight shooter, and was not complicated to deal with. It was a loss for both the company and the pilots when he retired.

Harvey Watt now fulfills this Aeromedical Advisor role. And they do it for other airlines too. But, while I don't have direct experience to relate, I have heard much less favorable stories about their speed, accuracy, and ease of working with them. I have also heard they require much more detail, paperwork, and information than Dr Kendall ever did. The impression I get from others is that Harvey Watt works for the company while Dr Kendall worked for the pilots and the company. It's kind of like the arbitrators, in that the system now feels like it is tilted against us instead of neutral, as Harvey Watt has a vested, financial interest in being responsive to the company whereas Dr Kendall I really felt would have quit if asked to do something unprofessional or unethical from the company. (I have no data on any of this, just the impressions built up through many conversations about people's experiences over the years.)

It all comes down to this. I will call in sick when I don't meet the I'M SAFE or FAR criteria--just like I always have. I will sometimes have seen the doc and sometimes not. I probably won't provide sick notes, as they won't have the detail the company now insists on, and therefore it will be a wasted effort. But, now this failure to provide a note CAN be an element of chapter 19 proceedings although not the sole basis.

I think all of this will have unintended repercussions for the company from the pilot group as a whole. The company is pushing too far and becoming too legalistic with everything. It's beginning to feel like death from a thousand small cuts. I think not only I but others feel less valued and only a cog in the machine. Why would a cog want to put forth any extra effort to provide the purple promise? Why would a cog ever push fatigue? Why would a cog every do anything extra? The company will get a professional effort from me every time I fly, but the feeling of this being more than a good paycheck and a great job is eroding fast and it makes me sad.

I'm not convinced this "settlement agreement" can negotiate away the fundamental rights a patient has to privacy of medical conditions/records! Am I correct in the interpretation of this policy as saying the employee is being compelled to provide confidential medical conditions/reports or face not getting paid?

There have certainly been lawsuits for torts of invasion of privacy of medical records in the past. It will be interesting to see the legal challenges.

I guess the legal question is, "When does a "doctor's note" become a medical report?"

While I'm not a lawyer, I do know that you can't negotiate anything that is contrary to law and have it pass muster. There were lawyers involved in crafting this settlement agreement on both sides so I would be surprised if it doesn't pass muster. But, I too am curious how they get around some of the HIPAA provisions.

Why all the whining? Everybody wanted a better retirement plan, right?

Well, this is the way we negotiate better retirement benefits these days. If pilots can be driven to use less of their sick leave...Their SLB will be that much bigger(well, 50% bigger) at retirement. Voila! A better retirement plan. :rolleyes:

Yes but legal interpretations are challenged all the time!

Oh, and when they DROP the trip, there is NO CREDIT to the make-up bank.

That's a negative consequence, otherwise known as discipline.

If you simply drop a trip, you are given the opportunity to make it up at some point in the future. If The Company doesn't like your sick excuse, you're out the pay, and you don't get to make it up.





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Murky Waters
 

Doctors note says: "Not fit for duty for a headache."

Management: "Should have taken an aspirin and reported to work. Sick leave denied"

This is going to get ugly fast if this is the road we're heading down. The DAMN Union opened this door and I am straight up ****ED.

Why does management need to see, know, and track our sick leave requirements? If you have 3 headache notes in 6 months....your now place on NOQ status and directed to a brain surgeon for a full workup?

Three back ache problems and now your NOQ for a full back evaluation?

My kids overheard my wife and I discussing this. Stupid of me to vent where they could hear. My youngest is now concerned we are not going to get paid or Dad is going to fly sick when he shouldn't. I wish I'd had a video of her little face to post online - so all could see the impact of the company pushing pilots with sick policy. All made worse by my Union signing up for this abortion.

Lets get Permission to Go Sick?
 

Got a stomach ache....Not sure if your sick leave will be approved? Options:

1). Call in sick and roll the dice for loss of pay, being tracked like a stock, and publicly humiliated for your weakness on such a trivial matter.
2). Call in fatigued and at least get the hours in my sick bank.
3). Call/email our Chief Pilot and ask for permission to be sick....a pre-approval of sorts so you know somewhat how this total jeopardy situation will unfold.

Not so fast ... pardon the pun.

First, the settlement agreement was signed July 5, 2016. Here's the last paragraph:
Note the date of the PFC.com announcement, July 6, 2017, and the planned implementation date, July 10, 2017.

So much for The Company holding up their end of a bargain. Try submitting your sick note 6 months late.




You may recall we discussed the Settlement Agreement itself about a year ago.

Then we were focused on the 3 options for clearing your name, and the probable tendency of many to go with option 3, "Surrender your privacy protections and Plead with your chief pilot."


The biggest news I see in this "News Release" is that the note which reads, "Capt. Hero was under my care. Signed - Dr. Shivago" will not suffice.

We still don't have any more information about the extra-contractual point system or thresholds which the automated system will use to trigger SCP review of our sick bank usage.







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The best return anyone could ever get on the SLB was 50% of the sick bank, and the formula insures that percentage goes down in future years. You know what's better than 50%? 51% - 100%, which is what many pilots will attempt to do through sick bank usage. This process, AGREED TO BY OUR GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE, not negotiated and ratified by the membership, amounts to an assault on the pilot's ability to use his sick bank.


It keeps getting better and better. :rolleyes:






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And the union wants us to wear their lanyards to show our support for them?

Uh, no.

It is very difficult to hold union leaders accountable for their actions that are to the detriment of the crew force.

If we didn't have agency shop, we could vote our displeasure with our feet.

The union, of course, deemed agency shop more important than full per diem.

Follow the money, it's all about the dues.

LMAO! Now that is funny!

Wait a second! Isn't Harvey Watt the company that sells us supplemental disability insurance? Sounds like a conflict of interest to represent the company as a "third party" in reviewing our doctor notes. Something smells real bad! I have to stop watching all those Judge Napolitano clips.

Chiming in with my discontent with this issue and this POS CBA!

The hits keep on coming as more of the implementations are in place.

I think this is all pretty funny.....the company is going to NOT pay you if you don't present a note from your doc describing in great detail about your swamp-nuts. And we're supposed to feel a sense of relief that the company won't issue an advisory letter:eek: Oh the horror of having an advisory letter in my file.....

Tell you what.....give me an AL.....as a matter of fact, gimme a stack of those effin things. We have guys at this company with files an inch thick that are still moving iron all over the world, so give me a piece of worthless paper, and let me keep my pay for the sick time I'VE EARNED!!! And as soon as the schedulers play above board with all of their scheduling games that get grieved, then I WON'T have to use SCK time as a scheduling tool !!!!!

Add this to App. S in the FOM, and we're slowly being cooked like a frog.

now, where did I place my union lanyard again?...........

I've had to submit two doctor's notes before. None of them ever stated the reason why I was there. The notes were more like forms that just said "Mr. PTB was under my care today. Date"

I've never had any issues.

CBA has always contained verbiage indicating the desire for a Physician's statement "explaining" why we called in Sick

And it's always had language indicating The Company can request one if it "has a good faith, and objective reason" to do so; or SL over a Major Holiday as defined in the CBA.

I would say that under BM the heat was turned up so high it was prima facie that The Company was requesting verification in a manner that wasn't in Good Faith. Under BM, seemingly calling in Sick if you had Reserve days was an indication that you were abusing your sick leave and generated a notification of potential adverse consequences up to termination.
While it's nice that RF seems to have set a more realistic STS value, think it will be nicer to have additional set of eyes looking at it prior to generating a note request. Just really wish the timeline was set at a firm 24 hours

But I can't think of any contractual reason that would require the company to continue tracking SL usage w/ Paper and Pencil versus an updated computer system.
That they should "go back" to the old system. Should we go back to telephonic or faxed bidding? Eliminate PFC and make all of the drops\adds\open time perusals over the phone?

That is no longer acceptable behavior. From the RF note addressing this subject - you need to have a reason why you could not perform your flight duties. The doctor’s note must identify the reasons for the pilot’s “inability to perform your assigned duties due to illness or injury.” Physician statements of a vague or general nature are not acceptable.

His example:

“Rob was seen in my office on August 10 because of an injury to his arm and shoulder,”

Does that explain why a pilot could not perform duties? NO. It describes a medical issue in broad terms. What if the doctors note said Pilot X cannot apply proper pressure to a brake or rudder pedal and will be out of work for 6 days?

Pilot X cannot properly adjust to altitude changes without unreasonable discomfort.

Pilot X cannot reliably operate the aircraft controls....cannot properly talk on the radio.....cannot climb stairs......cannot carry luggage.....you get the drift.

Now that does explain a required duty that cannot be performed without mentioning a specific medical problem. This is the route everyone should pursue. NO MEDICAL DATA - just a specific duty that cannot be performed.

They want your medical details and that is not in the contract.....a specific limitation(s) to preform duties is now required.

Out

I would also add that 99% of the Health Care Providers out there have no idea what would limit a pilot "specifically" from doing his or her duties. This isn't the military where you have a board certified Flight Surgeon who is an expert in Aerospace medicine. The Health Care Providers we see are Physicians, Dentists, Mid level NPs and PAs, Podiatrists, Optometrists, etc. They have no idea what a rudder pedal is!

So I go to an Optometrist and he gives me eye drops for an eye infection and he is supposed to say I can't see the runway to land? It's total nonsense and they won't write it! Why? because they open themselves up to lawsuits for other areas of operation like driving a car or a bicycle and no provider is going to write 500 restrictions to your daily activities to cover their a$$! The patient has to exercise common sense and judgement in their actions.

We need to look at a Paid time Off (PTO) system in our next contract. This is ridiculous!

If we have a positive sick bank or disability bank, we should be able to use it. Period. There should be no questions asked.

Teachers get up to a certain amount of "personal days" as well, in addition to their sick banks.

In this business, when I have missed countless holidays and special occasions over the years, you should be able to use your sick bank for a "personal day". I am not really talking about using them for Christmas, but things like graduations and weddings.

The union and the company should explore holiday pay. Any holiday requiring a sick note, should pay draft for the entire trip that touches said holiday. That includes the day before and the day after, as the company now dictates sick notes for those days as well.

The junior guys who have to work holidays should get draft. Everyone else on the ramp is getting overtime, we should as well.