Starting today, and until further notice, United Airlines requires a doctor’s note from any flight attendant calling in sick from duty on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. They note that sick calls have increased over summer weekends by as much as 23% and they believe cabin crew are misusing their sick time.
This comes as flight attendants at the airline are preparing for a strike authorization vote as protracted contract negotiations drag on, and as the carrier has struggled to recover (though not as badly as Delta!) from the CrowdStrike outage.
According to flight attendants union AFA, Section 13.C.4 of their contract outlines the period where United can require an ‘absence certificate’ from flight attendations – July 4 and Christmas holiday periods – and not weekends. They also believe the timing requirement for submitting the absence certificate differs from what’s in their contract (Section 13.C.3).
The union will file a grievance. That, too, can be a protracted process. Any flight attendant affected by the policy can keep records and may eventually be made whole if an improper policy disadvantages them. But the company can impose the policy in the meantime, and there’s risk in non-compliance. This may be enough to scare flight attendants into not calling out when they’re unable to get a doctor’s note – or when they’re sick but the added time and inconvenience of getting a doctor’s note is too burdensome.
Put another way, it may reduce absenteeism (some of which may be related to a preference not to work over the weekend during the summer, or to overall contract negotiations). It may also cause flight attendants to work sick, making other cabin crew and passengers sick. For an airline that emphasized Covid vaccinations as a mandatory job requirement even before the federal government sought to impose this to keep the virus from spreading to other employees this is an odd result.
My wife had an onsite supervisor who made the same demand. He would only give documented illnesses sick days, others would have to use PTO/Vacation (HR backed his authority to implement the rule). Our insurance (provided by her employer) encouraged the use of Teledoc and had no copay. You can call them, and get a call back in about 15 minutes. Tell them just about anything and they will email you a work excuse for up to three days. Within a few weeks, he could have papered his office with the Teledoc sick notes as now documented sick days went up substantially – now for multiple days.
This is quite literally the standard outside the industry.
Considering how many FAs want to stick it to the company, I don’t blame UA for taking this temporary (but should be permanent) measure.
Way to get mad over nothing.
Rational decision by UA . “Trust , but verify”.
@ Gary — In California, requiring a doctor”s note is illegal. Employees there consequently use sick days for whatever they wish.
I guess in some ways it’s a good way to catch those whom are abusing the system by going off false sick days which does happen at every business because workers think they can get away with lying
And the union can’t do a thing about it. But we are supposed to believe that unions offer ‘protection’?
@gene. That rule does not prohibit it. Non union get 40 hrs a year starting 1/1/24.
With FA they are usually on a 3 day schedule. In most companies the employer can ask for a doctor note. If sick time is not mandatory by the state for x hours the the employer has discretion. For many states like CA MA RI az co vt mi or and others the employees get paid based on hours worked and can get up to 40 hrs. Beyond that it is up to the employer to pay or not
USAAir has sick time afforded to their flight attendants. They just get docked points for using it…
Delta suffers from employees doing the same thing. Flight is ready to board but the flight is short some flight attendants. The airline calls them, “Oh, we had a chance to go to the lake with friends.” “Yeah but you have a flight in an hour.” “Well, we’ll just use a sick day.” Then scheduling has to call a reserve or find someone to fill in the gap. After a couple of times at this trick, the airline will terminate them for cause but the former employee doesn’t care. After all, they might have a worthless college degree that Paw Paw wiped the debt clear and the former employee doesn’t care because they don’t owe any money! Vicious circle and it’s not just the airlines! I don’t think a note from a physician, dentist, etc. is unreasonable. But then, a state like California is so screwed up anyway…
It is a clear contract violation with inflated numbers and comes at an interesting time point…2 days after the union announced a strike vote. Don’t blame FAs for needing to use sick time! We are exposed to over crowded airports and full planes on minimum rest. We are getting sick! And weekend happen to be busier and have a lot more FAs on duty. I am tired of people trying to put us down. We work hard for an ungrateful employer and often for entitled and ungrateful passengers. We appreciate so much those who actually see us trying to help get you from point A to point B with no company back up in messy situations way beyond our control. If you encounter a grumpy FA try to remember that being down right exhausted and largely disrepected all day is very hard to cope with day in and day out. We are there to help but help us by complying with rules and regulations and by saying please and thank you to those there to serve you and keep you safe. That is how we all create the friendly skies!
COVID-19 is going around again. Enjoy catching it from the crew on your next flight! When United requires an absence certificate and issues points and discipline for calling out sick the FAs will be working when they are unwell and contagious.
Calling out sick on weekends is the norm in many 24/7 industries. Think police, fire, healthcare, etc. Requiring a doctor’s will have a negligible effect, as they can now easily be obtained online without actually seeing a doctor.
They are required to go in and have a specific doctors certificate filled out, not just a doctors note (which is already a requirement in most instances)… flight attendants already get points against them for being/calling sick, and said points lead to steps of discipline. That company makes them out to look like they are misusing their sick time when in reality the company is misusing them… pushing them over 16hr duty periods (unpaid), rolling them from a 1 day trip to 5/6 days if need be… I’d be feeling sick too from sheer exhaustion. People in these comments have NO IDEA.
Drs are very difficult to get appointments with and not happy writing letters notes about illness for a number of reasons.This policy will likely lead to sick ream members coming in ill
Affecting more employees and passengers who will also get sick
Solve one problem create another
Hehe so here is the tea. Apparently some people who are on FMLA are being told they will need to get a certificate. This is illegal no? Correct it is, already contracting lawyers as I type this
Unions protecting poor behaviour, and pushing for exorbitant wage structures (pilots 3x peers in Europe on similar equipment) being passed to consumers. America’s 2 problems:: inflation and entitlement. But sure, blame a President.
United FA’s want “industry leading” wages? Become industry leading first. Tie compensation to performance like other sectors… including the CEO you despise. At least his stats back his.
FA’s are already coming to work with COVID this weekend after this announcement.
It’s not just a doctors note. They have to fill out a United airlines specific form. If they don’t have this specific form filled out even with a doctors note they would be in trouble. Most doctors have a fee for filling specific documents. I have had to use this form before. It goes right up to the tippy toe line of hippa requirements
May I remind those who know little to nothing about aviation that it’s not a Doctor’s Note but a Doctor’s Certificate. It’s different. Also, the job in itself IS DIFFERENT. They aren’t grounded and much less in front of a computer or up and about with proper breaks and rest.
United not only breached FA contract but violated some State Labor Laws. They issued this overriding the Union AND right after Microsoft Outage. Seems more like having a punishing tight grip (aka harassment or retaliation). Understand that with this meltdown going own FA’s will experience fatigue and they get even punished for that.
This article doesn’t quite hit all the important points. The form that they are requiring for submission is not a doctors note, it is an absence certificate. This certificate has questions on it about the flight attendants health that are not necessary for the company or any medical providers outside of the persons medical team to know. Which is covered by HIPPA. The company is NOT accepting doctors notes in place of this certificate. This also creates a problem for those who only work weekends as opposed to those who only work weekdays.
The company is currently falling apart and working flight attendants into the ground, sleeping in airports, not getting hotel rooms, working over 15 hours a day with no communication from the company. The uptick of sick calls most likely directly correlates to what is currently happening with the airline and fatigue from the current working conditions. This was a very poor decision and shows that management only cares about the bottom line, and not the flight attendants mental/physical health. Also, the company is requiring this certificate from those calling out that are already qualified for FMLA which is a federal program and has already been signed by a physician.
This is unbelievable, it seems flight attendants in general are slaves to the airlines.
Those sick hours are theirs to use as flight attendants considered.
To me, airlines are the sweatshop factories in USA.
Shameful .
With healthcare here, to make an appointment with my doctor it would be 3 months before I could get my “note”.
If airlines can figure out how to sell more seats than they have and have it work out in the end, they should be able to figure out how to staff more flight attendants than they need and have it work out in the end.
I can’t imagine trying to track/enforce doctor’s notes is more efficient.
Also, how do you get a doctor’s note from a primary care on a weekend? Are FAs expected to go to urgent care? Is that visit covered by the airline? Can all those doctor’s visits possibly be cheaper than having the correct number of reserve staff?
Amend the contract to give bonuses for consistent attendance. No bonus penalty if you show up to work and your supervisor sends you home.
File this one under “Why we can’t have nice things”. It seems pretty apparent that the rule was being abused, and United had little choice. As usual, the majority pays for the abuse by the minority.
Apparently they are saying you need more paperwork now even if you have FMLA which will be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Contact the Department of Labor immediately
Also if you’re based in California contact them as well for further clarification.
Stay tuned… it appears many lawsuits will be filed especially for the contract violation and The FMLA issue
You can just tell who is not an aviation worker just by reading their ignorant comments. Stay in your lanes.
Uh, DOCTORS are angry that the company is wasting our (already crappy) medical access since they can’t trust their employees. This means more docs having to work weekends, or the ones already working having less real access because of this.
Why are YOUR health care costs going up? Because they had to hire more coverage for this. Flying or not, someone has to pay, and it’s gonna be you.
I’m drinking
@A220HubandSpoke – This is not a doctor’s note; this is a “medical certificate.” That is different than the standard you speak of. This requires seeing a doctor and having them fill out a 2-page company-provided document. It asks very personal and detailed questions. It asks about your symptoms, diagnosis, treatments received, meds needed, etc. It is not just going to the doctor and asking for a “note.” A doctor’s note won’t suffice. It has to be this very detailed and specific form. Most urgent care providers will not sign the document for fear of HIPAA violations. The other issue is that it’s required within 72 hours of the sick call. If you call out sick on a Friday, that means you have to be at the PCP by Monday…. that’s just not realistic.
What about upper management? They are always sick since they sit around, doing nothing, and collecting money all day; where is the doctor’s note being lazy?
The reason FAs are angry is not from needing a “doctors note”. An absence certificate requires a far more, in depth, explanation including what the injury/illness is, course of treatment, restrictions and ETA to work. Even for a regular note, United will not accept telehealth doctors. You must see one in person.
FAs with FMLA are being told by management that any FMLA calls also need this document submitted. FMLA is federally protected and cannot lead to punitive action while used, showing a direct violation of federal law. United does not care.
It is also a blatant breach of contract, and they know it. I’m sure numbers were ran and they calculated that any fines or fees imposed due to this stunt will be less costly than continual delays and cancellations that are ongoing from the software update malfunction. It is purely a numbers game and it’s easy to point it at FAs who are in heated contract negotiations and about to vote to authorize a strike. United is union busting by causing FAs unknowledgeable about how these things must be addressed to scream “where’s our union?” They’re here. They’re working on it. They have to go through the proper channels since United did not.
23% sick calls I can almost guarantee happened during the hurricane in Houston which is a major United base. There are still employees without water and power. United did not offer any help to people directly affected other than “get to work or else”.
This article barely scratched the surface and people do not have all information. The response is overwhelmingly, “wow these flight attendants don’t want to work and are mad they now have to”. No, there’s many additional layers, but take a step back and imagine that at 430 pm on a Saturday your employer sent out an email stating is you call out 3/7 days of the week, starting in 7.5 hours, you must submit confidential medical information to them or get terminated and tough luck if you have to incur hefty ER bills or Urgent Care bills for a common cold because that’s what we said and you have to. Now imagine you have a union contract that prohibits this from being demanded. How angry would you be?
Unfortunately, UA does not allow Teledoc doctors notes as suggested above. Must be an “in person” doctor’s note and thus requiring an in person visit. Due to the time restraint, likely an urgent care visit (and associated costs).
Just looked up increased cases of Covid and in CA at least it’s 19.6%. That explains a lot of the 23% being cited as an excuse for contract violations.
Wondering how passengers are going to feel when more FAs start coming to work sick?
That rule is going to put them in the court room next to SWA in Arizona.
This is like dusting off the 1980s flight attendant policies and last minute sending out a requirement. More harm than good going this route vs. just being genuine, write a classy letter, request the help of everyone. United does not have many coins left in the flight attendant emotional bank account and this does not help.
For those of you curious here is the specific absence certificate form:
The next time your flight is delayed for hours or cancelled because they are short a cabin crew member, just remember the airline is trying to avoid this. Airlines have a business to run and a difficult job making passengers happy. Jeopardizing the operation because an FA decided to take the weekend off at the last minute helps no one.
United is RIGHT!!
“You can just tell who is not an aviation worker just by reading their ignorant comments.”
Yes, because offering a comment on a routine HR/medical policy requires one to be an expert in the aviation industry. Got it!
So all these people agreeing with this are agreeing because you didn’t give accurate information. It’s NOT a doctors note, which would be fine. An absence certificate is very specifically NOT a doctor’s note – it’s a form that includes detailed private medical information that is covered by hipaa. This policy violates the fa contract and hipaa laws. Your “article” is, as usual, slanted and wrong.
As a United FA, I’m actually not offended at all by this. I hardly ever call out sick, and only call in when it’s a last resort. I see colleagues abusing sick calls all the time. I look at the crews on my trip the night before, and then 8 hours later when I wake up in the morning, it’s all new people because they’ve all called out and gotten replaced. It’s time to stop the abuse, because it’s the reserves who get screwed even more by these last minute sick calls. Just go to work already!
If FMLA absences follow a pattern not specified by the initial certification, it is perfectly legal to require justification from a medical professional.
I fired a union airline employee once because oddly enough her time of the month always seemed to fall over a holiday. No matter what week of the month, and sometimes only 10 days apart. Then she tried forging the doctor’s documents and company sent someone to go to an appointment at same doctor to get a handwriting sample and well….
People have issue with points being awarded for sick calls. Yes but it is progressive. And if you are calling out enough to get enough points before the roll off period then you probably qualify for FMLA which will then allow non-punitive call outs. Many companies will allow a doctor certificate to combine one absence of multiple days into one point.
This policy raises an interesting point. Airlines operate 24/7, yet airline management works only from 8 to 5, Monday through Friday. It seems management’s philosophy is “what’s good for me is not good for thee.”
they’re probably doing that to discourage sick calls since cancelling a flight due to lack of staff can cost 10s of thousands of dollars. but they should have a float pool of extra staff to fill in.
Fire them all.
That’s the C*Os, the FAs, the GAs, everyone.
Fire them all.
Any company that treats its employees like untrusted garbage, that is run by incompetent garbage, and exists only to make Republicans richer at the expense of the blood and sweat and tears of the working class, and the greed and super-salaries of the fat-ass dickshits at the top should just go out of business.
American – I’m talking to you and your 80 year old staff that treats customers like crap. Die already.
It’s not the industry standard to everyone making ignorant comments. Since when you do companies require a 5 question absence certificate from a doctor when taking care of a family member under FMLA? Why doesn’t this article discuss that that it’s not a doctors note but a form with very personal questions. The company won’t accept a telehealth doctor so how are flight attendants supposed to see their regular doctor for a migraine when wait times are weeks to months out and get the form filmed out and turned back into the company in 72 hours by fax machine. How is this normal to any of you?
I am american wish we could us a dr note american will not expect that
Except
This article needs to be updated as information is informed. they are asking for much more than a doctors note but asking detailed info about person’s illness that violates hippa. Also asking for paperwork with those who have FMLA which is also illegal.