[About Local 32035] [Local Leaders] [Local Staff] [Unit Leaders] [Local Bylaws & Governance] [Contracts] [Newsroom]
[Need a Union?] [Labor Calendar] [Discussion Area] [Related Sites] [Home Page]

 

Guild Challenges Company's Draft Call Center Attendance Policy

The Guild told BNA management Friday the union would challenge any attendance policy that penalizes employees for taking unscheduled leave for legitimate reasons.

Union and company officials met for about two hours to discuss the company’s proposed attendance policy for the Rockville call center. The policy would begin penalizing employees when they exceeded 22.5 hours of unscheduled leave (excluding FMLA, workers compensation and bereavement leave) in a 12-week period. Employees could be disciplined for being late after three late arrivals in a 12-week period.

The Guild told management that, as written, the proposed policy would hold employees liable for discipline for using their leave for legitimate reasons, i.e. being sick or taking care of a sick family member.
Tina Israel stated it was not BNA’s intention to carry out discipline in such instances, but she conceded management could do just that under its proposal.

Guild Unit Chair Reza Namdar told Israel assurances need to be written into the policy so there’s no fear that legitimate absences would be punished. Call center shop steward Shawna Menefee emphasized that sick leave by its very nature is unpredictable, and employees should not be punished for using it for legitimate purposes.

In fact, Appendix L of the contract states just that: “No policy or practice designed to reduce the incidence of emergency leave will result in the discipline of employees solely for the use of unscheduled sick leave unless that sick leave is used in a pattern demonstrating abuse.”

The Guild also questioned how BNA would count unscheduled absences when someone is sick for two or more days. Israel said if the person called in sick Monday for Monday and Tuesday it would count as one unscheduled absence (Monday), but if the person called in Monday and waited until Tuesday to call in for Tuesday, that would count as two unscheduled absences.

Guild Local Representative Paul Reilly said that seemed to defy common sense.

On the issue of how far in advance leave had to be scheduled, Israel clarified the 9 a.m. deadline by saying notification could be either by phone or email. That means someone who starts work at 11 a.m. would not have to come in early to request time off for the next day.

Israel did agree managers should have a deadline for responding to leave requests. She says they will have 24 hours to approve, deny or explain why there’s a delay. She said this did not apply to regular vacation scheduling.

Joseph Sanneman, BNA’s Labor Relations director, said he would take the employee concerns into consideration as management refines the policy.

By the way, if you’ve read the proposed policy and are confused about how it would work, you’re not alone. Sanneman also expressed bewilderment about how absences would be calculated.

In addition to Namdar, Menefee and Reilly, the Guild was represented by unit Vice Chairs Marline Casselle and Gwen Holmes.

Present for the company in addition to Israel and Sanneman were Ralph Rabbit and Elly Snyder.

 

Back to top of page