Injuries

If I sustained an injury and was told by the doctor to do no work for 2 months…What would my Pay be like? Am I getting reserve pay? Do I lose my sick hours? Do I lose seniority because I’m not flying?

Thanks

Daniel,

Different airlines have different policies regarding sick calls, sick time accrual and when it becomes a long term issue. I can only speak for my airline and your 2 month sick call would go as follows. If you’re a lineholder you’d receive the value of your line but if you’re on Reserve you’d get the min guarantee. Now you would not “lose” your sick hours, you’d “use” them (that’s what sick hours are for, when you’re sick). So the hours you’re paid would come out of your “sick bank”. Now if you’ve used up all your sick bank you’re not getting paid at all (not likely unless you’re out sick often). One neat thing they have here at Hawaiian is if you’re out sick for a while and run out of sick time left, your friends (co-workers) can donate you some time which is a really nice thing. Regardless you will continue to build seniority.

Adam

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Thanks Adam. At Hawaiian how many sick days do you have? And I think you missed a bit of my question. If the doctor says no work for 2 months there’s not much you can do. Do they make exceptions at Hawaiian for such things? Or does it still come from your sick bank?

Daniel,

We accrue sick hours (not days) at 7.5hrs a month but I believe every pilot start with 50hrs (give or take) in their bank?

I am missing your question? If you’re SICK and can’t come to work (whether it’s Dr’s orders or mom’s) you’re SICK and any time you miss comes out of your SICK bank. Perhaps it’s different elsewhere but not to my knowledge (not sure why it would be?).

Adam

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Well I thought injuries would be different from being sick. If I have to go through surgery I can’t exactly be fit for the job for “x” amount of time. Whereas, being sick is your choice to stay home or not. Not sure if you get my questions or not, but it’s ok if you don’t.

Daniel,

I believe I understand what you’re saying but where/how would you like the airline to draw the line? If I have the flu whether the Dr tells me to go to work or not while I suppose it is my “choice” it would be rather foolish and irresponsible to do so. If I go mountain biking and slide off the side of a cliff and break every bone in my body then I suppose I have no “choice” BUT I did have a “choice” to participate in an activity that has a potential risk so should that be prohibited by the airline? What if I’m drunk/high and crash my car? Does me being stupid count? Do you honestly not think that EVERY pilot in the US has at least one friend who’s a Dr and is willing to write him a note? I could go on forever but the short answer is this, IF you are sick, injured, impaired, unwell, ailing, FATIGUED, can’t get off the bowl, tossing your cookies, depressed because your team lost, exercising a mental health day, sticking it to the man, don’t want to fly with Capt Toolbag, afraid to fly because it’s Fri the 13th, or are unable OR unwilling to perform your duties as a pilot whether it be your own choice/decision OR the recommendation of ANYONE else (Dr, wife, mom, girlfriend, shaman, medicine man, medic, cousin who washed out of medical school, parole officer, psychiatrist, psychologist, psychic friend (in person or over the phone, etc) the airline will be taking the hours from your SICK BANK. Understand?

Adam

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Yes. I got it thanks. Take it easy on the last bit of the rant lol. Don’t get so worked up. But I understand that it but annoying to ask you the same question to only get the same answer. Just was making sure we were on the same page. Appreciate the help though. :slight_smile:

No apology needed and ranting is how I avoid unnecessary sick calls (keeps the BP in check) :slight_smile:

Adam

2 Likes

You can’t be that old to worry about that lol

Daniel,

I’m new to these kinds of questions, but I’ll give it a shot. I think Adam has answered your question. One thing to understand is that sick leave can be used for illnesses or injuries. There are some other options, if eligible, available such as Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability and Medical Leave of Absence. Each are explained in detail in the pilot/union contract. Your pay should reflect the value of your line, or at least min guarantee, if you’re on reserve. However, for every hour you are paid while on “sick leave,” those hours are deducted from your sick bank, until exhausted.

Tory

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My friend I’m old as dirt…

Adam

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You don’t look old in your picture

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Thanks Tory for the reply

Daniel,

That is a very in-depth question and the answer varies greatly by airline. Each airline has some sort of disability plan and of course each airline has sick pay. Bottom line, while you are using your sick time you will be at full pay, once that expires you will go on disability and that will be about 60% pay (at least at the Airlines I have worked for).

Chris

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Thanks Chris. I appreciate all of your replies.

Daniel,

For what it’s worth Adam’s explanation is pretty much how it works in any industry. Not just pilots. If you can’t work for whatever reason then it comes from your sick bank, sick pay, vacation, paid days off or a combination of those depending on company policy first. Once that is used up you don’t get paid so you either need to have savings built up, have a short term disability policy (many companies offer this for a price and most insurance companies offer it as well) or get loans or something to pay for your needs until your able to work again. Short term disability insurance is rather expensive so many financial advisers will recommend building up your savings instead. That way if you never need to use the money for unpaid leave then you can use it somewhere else. Whereas with the short term disability policy if you never use it then you never get anything back.

After short term disability then most companies offer long term disability as part of their benefits package, so most of the time you get that for free, but it doesn’t usually kick in until 6+ months of continuous leave, and like Chris said it is typically only 50-60% of your normal salary.

These are all very broad answers because the bottom line is it depends on the company you work for and the policies you have.

Jason