General Discussion

This week our local Union has received reports from several RNs placed on the 72/80 schedule stating that managers have threatened staff with taking away their 72/80 schedule if they have insufficient sick leave balance, while others are reportedly threatening with denying sick leave if no medical documentation is provided, even for one day absences.

Our local Union has brough this up to the attention of upper management. Although these allegations have been denied, we have been notified that Managers have been instructed to stop disseminating this information. Regardless of the contradiction, AFGE Local 1133 is actively investigating all possible potential violations to your rights. We are in active talks with HR and upper management addressing our concerns. Although there are some potential violations that we are actively working on correcting, we strongly advise all employees to be vigilant of their use of SL.

What does this mean if I am in a 72/80 schedule? If you have any behaviors that can be considered as sick leave abuse, such as any patterns, calling of periodically or on certain days, weekends, holidays and no FMLA, you are at risk to loosing your 72/80s. Does this mean that I will loose my current schedule if I call off? NO. But these threats poses some significant concerns, although management has the right to take action against abuse, they do not have the right to tell you to not call off if you are sick, nor to deny SL if you call off for one day.

Our advise: WATCH your use of SL. Our position is strong against utilizing 78/80s removal as a form of punishment, but do understand that if there is a clear indication of abuse, management can, and WILL take it away from you under legal pretenses. At this time there is no clear indication to where this investigation may lead, but on the mean time make sure to use your SL wisely. Provide medical documentation when possible even if it is not required. Lastly, if you have or anyone under your care suffers from a chronic condition that may require you to utilize SL frequently, we advise that you explore obtaining FMLA.

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