Our team is 12 strong on paper, but we have 4-5 people frequently claiming time off for Caregiver responsibilities. We didn't see this abuse before Covid. Now every AM seems to be afraid to question it. Last week 2 people took the same 2 days and then both returned with impressive tans. The remaining 7-8 are carrying the weight, and we are worried that when it is realized we can get by without 4 people most days of the week, any surplussed headcount will come from the group actually doing the work.
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"Hate to break it to ya, but the more extreme abusers are not logging caregiver time in INFOR. They are cheats, not mo--ns"
I used 2 vacation hours to take my son to the dentist. The next day I was advised to code it as caregiver time. Another coworker recommended using caregiver time only on Monday/Friday to enjoy the benefit of a long weekend. No one disputed her. First ever fraud peer-support group. I left it coded as vacation time.
Look around OP. Fraud and abuse of varying degrees exist all around you at ATT. Leadership is weak and lacking in integrity. This company needs a purge from the top down. There have been too many lies and misdirections.
@vhnj+1o0b1oDM spoken like a "rule breaker"
Previous posts sound very similar to FMLA abuses, with coworkers being forced to carry the weight of absentee employees. Leadership is causing far too much internal turmoil for these types of abuses to even show on the radar. Only significant levels of fraud are of importance these days.
Ok go ahead and complain about the policy abusers. How they will solve it? They will cut the benefit and Wah la! No more abuse. Look, you can’t worry about other people. That is the supervisor’s job. Rule breakers will be rule breakers. Worry about yourself. When you start comparing other people and how things aren’t fair you only make yourself miserable.
"don’t complain, it’s a benefit they GAVE us. Nice gift for a change"
The OP and several other posts appear to be speaking to the abuse of the system.
We get 15 days, that’s 120 hours to be used in any increments. This is good news after they took away vacation days. Take advantage of the benefit if you can. Husband was in the hospital, I took 16 hours to go for a few hours every day. Taking another day when he goes for follow up. No longer need to use PTO for family care, don’t complain, it’s a benefit they GAVE us. Nice gift for a change.
Our team is suffering too. We have three people who are well over their 15 days, and there is no sign of letting up. I would strongly disagree that these days are monitored, if they are actually being coded as caregiver. Caregiver abuse is the new FMLA abuse. I would hope HR swoops in on these deadbeats before we lose more good workers in the next surplus.
All it takes is a area manager willing to look the other way. Same thing happens with unlogged vacation so no need to call anyone out for fake caregiver time.
I don't buy the 15 days, or maybe there are exceptions. A woman on our team is already at 24 and just announced 3 more days for next week. Easy enough to count the days on our team calendar. Someone here said to report it. Not in this culture. It is not a problem for the company until some poor schmuck shoves it in their faces. That schmuck will be the only person treated like a criminal. COBC violation? Do your family a favor and look the other way.
For many reasons, all workers should do a one day strike this Friday.
Someone from HR leaked a picture before this was announced and the 2 extra company vacation days and the caregiver leave policy was all a result of scrwng older workers out of vacation time. The spreadsheet showed the costs associates with the new changes balanced by the savings of taking away vacation time all one slide.
So when anyone says this is a great thing, just as many people can say that is yet another result of giving the shaft to your fellow employees. AT&T didn't do this out of the goodness of their hearts, they simply moved benefits away from some people who had earned benefits and they were taken away after the fact. Just as they took away the ability to get supplemental retiree medical and then medical at all.
As employees get older they may need to care for sickly parents, family members or unfortunately even children with cancer. Men have a 40% chance of getting cancer and for women it is a little higher. There are always people who will cheat the system but there are also a lot of caregivers out there who are working two jobs in caring for a sick loved one and full time work and some colleagues you may not even be aware of are going through tough times. So have some compassion for those real care givers out there as there is nothing more selfless then caring for a sick individual.
I have a coworker that uses about 8 weeks of vacation a year. This must be what's she's using. I know its vacation because she posts it all over facebook.
Caregiver is just another failed initiative. The company ignores the abuse rather than admit the program is flawed, and that taking away earned vacation days from senior staff was a mistake.
"your manager gets notifications from INFOR and can address any concerns they may have"
Hate to break it to ya, but the more extreme abusers are not logging caregiver time in INFOR. They are cheats, not mo--ns.
“I had thought the DUI itself was a career ki-ler at At&t.”
It may have been at one time but you may recall about a year or so ago T lower its hiring standard to now allow folks with a criminal record. I cannot recall the specifics but I think it was even mentioned in a town hall.
I had to give up vacation days so they could take this caregiver time off. I was surprised to learn on this board they could take 15 days. Like others I am almost certain I've seen some employees burn thru that in 3 months, and they are still taking more days. We had someone get a freaking DUI at 1pm on a Caregiver day. Still here abusing the system. I had thought the DUI itself was a career ki-ler at At&t.
Occupational here… my husband is a two time cancer survivor. This last bout of multiple myeloma has been challenging! We have an oncology team, blood and marrow transplant group who has been with us every step of the way. I have FMLA as his caregiver, emotional, and physical support. We have been married for 34 years. During the pandemic, I worked from home. That was a blessing! I could take my husband to give lab work once a month. I would always take him when they opened at 8:30am. I didn’t have to start until 10:30. The location was close enough for me to get him there and back home before I had to log in. When they brought us all back into the office, I requested our oncology team fill out FMLA paperwork so that I could take care of him with unpaid time off. FMLA is a blessing because it makes things easier for me. Although I’m not paid to take off for my husband… that is alright! I have NEVER abused the system! God will continue to bless us. My husband is 72 years old and we are thankful that he is still with us. For those who have a problem with people taking off for caregiver support… you are welcome to walk in our shoes. The same shoes we have walked in over the past 13 years.
Its DEF NOT you, Karen.
“FMLA usually requires health care provider certification. It's also unpaid so why would the company care?”
Caregiver leave is not the same as FMLA. And it is paid not time off with no documentation.
Report it anonymously to the ethics hotline. Caregiver leave is heavily abused. Someone on my team abused it, was reported, and is no longer here.
Supervisors should have this responsibility. Sounds like it’s mostly an issue with poor quality supervisory skills. Surprised?
“ No need to fight the system and fire someone during normal times, but you will be fired when a surplus round comes if you abuse your privileges and system. caveat emptor”
I follow the same process for the in office policy. If you aren’t showing up like the rest of the team, you will be surplused.
As a supervisor i am aware of employees in my org who abuse company privileges. I noticed a certain employee that was abusing it the last 2-3 years. The employee was middle to good in performance. When next surplus round came earlier this year, I made sure employee was let go. No need to fight the system and fire someone during normal times, but you will be fired when a surplus round comes if you abuse your privileges and system. caveat emptor
It’s tracked just like the unlimited vacation days. No one is looking.
Everyone knows in the end they’ll sc--w you over. Think of it as a pre-emotive strike.
“Have seen younger workers claim they are caring for children and with such consistency, you wonder if their children are ever healthy.”
Actually, if you have young kids in daycare, you know that they are, in fact, always sick. And now that RTO is a thing, kids are spending even more time per day in daycare. It would be cool for people to show a little empathy for young moms (and dads) who don’t want to spend every single one of their PTO days taking care of sick kids.
I agree that as far as management paid caregiver leave, it is abused constantly.
Have seen older workers take it as compensation for losing vacation. Have seen younger workers claim they are caring for children and with such consistency, you wonder if their children are ever healthy.
Another bad policy change by Santone.
“FMLA usually requires health care provider certification. It's also unpaid so why would the company care?”
Management employees get 15 paid caregiver leave days per year that can be taken at any time. Per HR OneStop, no health care certification is needed for this and no FMLA approval is needed. This is separate from FMLA. I assume caregiver leave is what this post is about.
Ur welcomed for the 15 days of family caregiver days paid by every manager with over 20 years losing 1 week of vacation. This happened a few years ago to help “attract” and “retain” younger talent. Another age discrimination act by this company!
FMLA usually requires health care provider certification. It's also unpaid so why would the company care?
Sounds like some folks need to be added to the list for next surplus.
Extra vacation days
15 days a year that can be taken in smaller increments is a lot of time off.
I really think this was implemented to help younger people who have kids deal with taking time off when their kids are sick. But I have used it ti take my mom to specific doctor appointments. I am not sure if a manger could legally ask for some type of proof. But it is ripe for abuse.
We believe HR is monitoring. We had an employee leave rather suddenly. Something was going on but our manager wouldn't comment. The employee boasted several times of getting what att "owed" her. After she left, the rest of the team was lectured about false reporting. No proof, but we assumed it was related to caregiver time reporting.
So. Santone isn't here anymore. Go cry to Lori Lee. Maybe she will hear your cries.
Good question for Yammer....the HR team will respond