Two months ago, United Airlines management updated its sick leave policy for flight attendants with little notice. The updated policy proved unpopular with flight attendants and was even investigated by the US Department of Labor (USDL) for potentially violating the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Airline management declares victory
According to an internal memo obtained by Live and Let’s Fly, United Airlines has rescinded the requirement for flight attendants. The memo read:
“We’re rescinding the requirement of an absence certificate for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday effective immediately.
The policy achieved the intended objective of reducing the highly unusual sick call rates on weekends to normal percentages. The significant sick leave reduction during the time the policy was in effect reduced the risks to the operation during peak summer travel.
We’ll continue to monitor sick trends closely. Our desire is to not need to reinstate this requirement in the future. Thank you to everyone who worked on these peak travel days, ensuring our customers got to their destinations safely and securely.”
The airline updated its policy mainly due to the rapid increase in sick call rates on weekends compared to normal values. The airline previously claimed that weekend sick calls increase by 23% during the summer.
Photo: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying
The percentage has dropped to acceptable levels, and the difficult policy has deterred flight attendants from calling sick on the weekends. As a result, the airline has now reversed the changes but has maintained that it will return should the numbers increase again.
The policy’s repeal could have been due to pressure from both the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) and USDL. However, the airline claims that the change did what it intended to do and is no longer required. Simple Flying has reached out to United Airlines to comment on the situation.
New policy violated flight attendant contract
The updated policy immediately drew criticism from flight attendants and the AFA, the union that represents United flight attendants. The AFA said the policy showed a “lack of respect.”
Photo: Nieuwland Photography | Shutterstock
United is currently in talks with the AFA regarding contract renewals. The flight attendants fight for better pay and more benefits. The union was considering striking because of the policy, among other reasons.
The policy violated two clauses in the current contract. The current contract allows the airline to request medical certification, but only on specific holidays, such as the Fourth of July and the end-of-year holidays.
The second violation concerns the time frame within which the certificate must be presented. The current contract requires the flight attendant to submit the certificate by the check-in time for the flight following the sick leave. However, the change required flight attendants to submit the certificate within 72 hours.
In addition, the airline provided less than 24 hours’ notice about the changes. The high number of complaints also triggered the US Department of Labor to investigate the policy. It was never confirmed if the policy change violated the FMLA. The investigation will probably be suspended now that the change has been scrapped.
United Airlines
- IATA/ICAO Code
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UA/UAL
- Year Founded
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1931
- CEO
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Scott Kirby
- Country
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United States