The Department of Labor is looking into flight attendant complaints about new doctor's note requirements
The Department of Labor has some questions about a new sick leave policy at United Airlines. The policy, unveiled last weekend, says that flight attendants who call out sick on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are required to provide a doctor’s note when they do so.
“Through numerous recent inquiries from workers, the Wage and Hour Division has become aware of a possible change in United Airlines’ leave policies,” the Labor Department said in a statement Thursday. “We will be working with the airline and workers to ensure that the company’s leave policies are in compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act.”
The Association of Flight Attendants, the union that represents flight attendants at United, said at the time of its unveiling that “Not only is this a willful Contract violation, it is yet another demonstration of management’s lack of respect for Flight Attendants and our contract.” The contract in question is in its fourth year of renegotiation, and the AFA is taking a strike vote to put pressure on management to speed things along.
In a comment provided to Quartz, United Airlines said that “most United flight attendants are going above and beyond for our customers this summer. However, this year we’ve seen the number of sick calls spike on weekends – and only weekends. Our contract with the Association of Flight Attendants allows the company to require a physician’s note in cases of suspected abuse of sick time. The policy is narrowly tailored to the days when abuse has been occurring, and we hope to return to our usual approach of not requiring a doctor’s note soon.”
After the announcement of the Labor inquiry, the union said in a statement that “We applaud the DOL’s proactive response to these issues that we have raised with them and will continue our efforts to hold management accountable to our contract and the law.”
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