United Airlines Flight Attendants Lose Legal Battle Over ‘Reprehensible’ Sickness Policy
- What you need to know:
- • An independent arbitrator has ruled that United Airlines is within its rights to make flight attendants provide a doctor's note when they call out sick.
- • United implemented the requirement for weekend sick calls last summer after nearly a quarter of flight attendants called in sick.
- • The flight attendant union called the policy 'reprehensible' and started legal proceedings to quash the rule.
Flight attendants at United Airlines have lost a legal battle to overturn a controversial sickness policy that requires crew members to have a doctor’s note if they call out sick over the weekend.
The Chicago-based carrier introduced the new rule last July after witnessing a surge in flight attendants calling in sick for their flights, with nearly a quarter of crew members unable to work due to sickness over weekend periods.
Giving flight attendants just 24 hours notice of the policy, United said it would require an absence certificate obtained at the crew members’ expense if they reported sick for any trip that departed on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
Flight attendants who were unable or willing to get an absence certificate from a doctor within 72 hours of calling sick would face disciplinary action, including the threat of termination.
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) slammed the policy as ‘reprehensible’ and launched a legal challenge, arguing that their contract prohibited United from demanding absence certificates with the exception of the Fourth of July and Christmas holiday period.
On Friday, nearly a year after challenging the weekend sickness policy, the union heard back from the independent arbitrator who had been overseeing the dispute.
Rather than siding with the union, the arbitrator said the flight attendant contract did, in fact, give United the unilateral power to demand an absence certificate when there was evidence of “abuse or misuse of sick leave.”
United had provided evidence to the arbitrator that showed a “dramatic and sustained surge in weekend sick calls,” with sickness rates at the weekend surging to 22% in the months before the policy was implemented.
Ultimately, United suspended the weekend sickness policy just weeks after it was implemented, claiming that it had achieved the desired effect of reducing sick calls back to acceptable levels.
The arbitration board decision, however, gives United the right to implement the policy in the future if the circumstances suggest it is necessary.
Ken Diaz, the president of the United Airlines branch of the AFA-CWA, says he has instructed the union’s legal department to review the decision and see whether it can be challenged in federal court.
During a recent meeting with United’s senior vice president of Inflight Services, John Slater, it was suggested that sick calls were rising in a similar way to how they spiked last May and June.
While United has told the union that it has “no immediate plans” to reactivate the weekend sickness policy, Diaz warned flight attendants that the policy would not be ruled out if the current sickness trend continued.
In addition to the weekend sickness policy being introduced, United has also told flight attendants they must provide at least eight hours’ notice of going sick or face a performance warning.
In the wake of United introducing its weekend sickness policy last summer, the Department of Labor waded into the dispute, saying it would investigate complaints from flight attendants and work with the airline to make sure it was following the law.
The union says it had been in regular contact with the DOL about the policy, but communication suddenly stopped after President Trump took office.
Matt’s take
United is far from the only airline dealing with rising levels of sickness amongst its flight attendant workforce. In March, Delta Air Line also found itself battling a spike in flight attendants calling out sick, especially over weekends, holidays, and big events like the Superbowl.
There are a variety of reasons why flight attendant sickness rates are on the rise, although some veteran crew members blame coworkers who were hired during and after the COVID-19 pandemic for the current issues.
The belief is that airlines were in such a rush to hire staff as pandemic-era restrictions were lifted and travel demand skyrocketed that ‘standards went out of the window.’
As a serving flight attendant, I recognize this is a difficult balancing act for airlines to get right. On the one hand, flight attendants have signed up to work weekends and holidays, so you can’t be seen to allow people to abuse the system.
On the other hand, seemingly pressuring obviously sick flight attendants to work does raise safety concerns.
I understand people don’t want to have to work weekends or holidays but you knew this when you took the job that it could happen, I hate it when people fake sickness to get out of work, you are just pushing your responsiblities onto someone else.
While I appreciate both sides of the argument, it is very likely that the very abusers of the system are not the veterans, but those who ostensibly wanted to ‘live their dream’ only to find that this job, like many others, involves work. I am a ten-year veteran of a regional and started late(in my fifties). Many of the youngsters(yes, I will use that term) on today’s Line do NOT have the appropriate work ethic and may only be in this career field for the perceived glamour and/or view themselves as once and future influencers. Because of my company’s policy, I have often had to work sick, much to the chagrin of my passengers. But I go to work because I must, and I have worked a lot of weekends, nights and holidays. It’s what we do. If you feel compelled to have weekends off, go work at a bank. OOPS – they’re open weekends too. In short, to those abusers, GET OUT. Leave this career to those who are dedicated to service and safety.