A pilot states that the far's require a pilot not work if ill. His air carrier's doctor sick note re...

Narrative:

After returning home from my trip; I received the following email from my company: 'first officer manpower is very tight due to a dramatic increase in sick leave. This makes everyone's job more difficult; particularly during a full summer flying schedule. This shortage is negatively impacting our flight operations; customers and fellow pilots. As your system chief pilot; I would never ask you to report for a trip when you aren't healthy enough to fly. However; current circumstances require that we take immediate action to address the sudden spike in sick leave in these seats. Pursuant to section X of the pilots' agreement; effective immediately and until further notice; all first officers will be required to provide a doctor's certificate before sick leave will be paid. I feel this is a blatant attempt at pilot pushing. The company knows that they may intimidate a few pilots into flying while sick in order to cover their poor pilot manning models. Behavior like this was supposedly eradicated decades ago in the interest of safety. My company is clearly trying to intimidate its pilots into flying when the fars prohibit flying while unfit and make the pilot the responsible party for determining their own fitness.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A pilot states that the FAR's require a pilot not work if ill. His air carrier's doctor sick note requirement is harassment and forcing pilots to fly sick.

Narrative: After returning home from my trip; I received the following email from my company: 'First Officer manpower is very tight due to a dramatic increase in sick leave. This makes everyone's job more difficult; particularly during a full summer flying schedule. This shortage is negatively impacting our flight operations; customers and fellow pilots. As your System Chief Pilot; I would never ask you to report for a trip when you aren't healthy enough to fly. However; current circumstances require that we take immediate action to address the sudden spike in sick leave in these seats. Pursuant to Section X of the Pilots' Agreement; effective immediately and until further notice; all First Officers will be required to provide a doctor's certificate before sick leave will be paid. I feel this is a blatant attempt at pilot pushing. The company knows that they may intimidate a few pilots into flying while sick in order to cover their poor pilot manning models. Behavior like this was supposedly eradicated decades ago in the interest of safety. My company is clearly trying to intimidate its pilots into flying when the FARs prohibit flying while unfit and make the pilot the responsible party for determining their own fitness.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	795887
Time
Date	200807
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz.airport
State Reference	US
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 7000 flight time type : 1100
ASRS Report	795887
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : published procedure non adherence : far non adherence : company policies
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Company
Primary Problem	Company

A pilot states that the far's require a pilot not work if ill. His air carrier's doctor sick note requirement is harassment and forcing pilots to fly sick.