[L-AS] REVISED Pyramid Pay/Payroll Issues Update

This message is for pre-merger Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants

[Note: AFA has reissued this communication with additional information regarding pyramiding pay due to membership feedback.]

AFA is working daily on payroll issues.  In January 2018 we mediated payroll issues with management which was overseen by Arbitrator Horowitz.  Many of the payroll resolutions were published in the MEC Grievance Committee Update for Quarter 1, 2018 on February 23, 2018.  Here’s the latest update:

1. The MEC appointed a Payroll Representative who works under the MEC Grievance Committee, Kiara Jenkins.  She began work on June 1, 2018 and is responsible for  advocating for Flights Attendants in regard to payroll issues. Please contact her if it is  believed there is an outstanding payroll issue that needs resolution.
2. Grievance 36-99-2-208-17: Violation of §11.G.4 Compensation for Picked Up Reserve Days, was retroactively sustained.  AFA requested the payroll department audit the past three years of this violation and pay those wrongly denied 1 TFP if a reserve day is converted to ER, and s/he is subsequently not used.  The payouts are being paid out periodically since May 2018 and will continue until the full audit is complete.
3. JCTE is not paying the greater of actual or scheduled for trips scheduled to release after midnight but that subsequently release prior to midnight. This seems to happen mostly when the original trip contains minimum pay rules (MPRs).  AFA is requesting that JCTE be programmed so that the value of the trip does not drop below the original value.  The fix is expected to be delivered to the payroll analysts for test next week.  If the test goes well the fix will be released into production in early August 2018.
4. The ability for crew members to see rosters going back three months is still not programmed despite AFA’s continued requests.  It is a core Jeppesen change which is taking time. Management advised that this correction should be made sometime in Q4 2018.  Payroll is sending out notifications to all Flight Attendants’ company email to remind Flight Attendants to print her or his schedule prior to its disappearance.
5. JCTE is incorrectly applying and/or removing minimum pay rules (MPRs) on trips that have been split at a SIP point.  The Company will investigate whether this issue has been fixed by the latest release of the program.  Crew Scheduling is going to handle this manually until fixed.  Management is researching a permanent fix date.
6. As published in the last update, Activity Claim Forms will not be disputed by management if the screen shot is not provided, however, the Company reserves the right to research the underlying error and recover any overpayment form the Flight Attendant.  In Washington, this research mush be completed, and a decision reached, within 90 days of the pay issue date in dispute for funds to be returned to the Company.   Presently we are in dispute over the other states; for instance, in California funds, once paid, cannot be required to be returned to the Company without the employee’s approval.  There is a caveat for requesting pay however, if a Flight Attendant requests pay s/he is not due, s/he could be brought in for an investigation.  To protect the Flight Attendant’s interests, if it is possible, we recommend keeping evidence which proves the request the Flight Attendant is making.
7. The Company was delayed in its reporting back on its position on pyramiding pay* issues. It eventually reported back on March 13, 2018, and agreed that all pay provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement pyramid** except for reassignments and over duty do not pyramid** with each other.  Presently we are working on restitution based on this agreement.  AFA is advocating for the quickest and most advantages outcome for all Flight Attendants.  We will report back when a final resolution is decided.

*     Pyramiding pay = A pay application in which hours (i.e. TFP credit) are counted more than once for the purpose of ‘overtime’ (i.e. premium pay).

**   Pyramid (verb) = To pay more than one premium based on the same TFP credit (i.e. to stack more than one premium pay application on the same flying/TFP).

Example:

A Seattle Flight Attendant flies a San Diego turn worth 6.0 TFP on a holiday. Due to delays, the Flight Attendant experiences a 12:45 duty day.

S/he will be paid 5.0 TFP at double time (2.0x) and pyramiding pay of 1.0 TFP at triple time (3.0x) because the double time (2.0x) holiday premium pyramids with the double time (2.0x) over-duty premium due to duty exceeding 12:30. (See Section 21.H [Compensation: Holiday Premium] and Section 8.F.1 [Hours of Service: Over-Duty Pay.)

Note that the pyramiding double time (2.0x) of holiday pay and double time (2.0x) of over-duty pay results in triple time (3.0x) and not quadruple time (4.0x) because the 1.0 TFP is paid only once at straight time (1.0x) but is counted separately for holiday premium and over-duty pay.

Here is the math:

Holiday pyramiding pay: 2.0x holiday premium – 1.0x straight pay = 1.0x holiday pyramiding pay

Over-duty pyramiding pay: 2.0x over-duty pay – 1.0x straight pay = 1.0x over-duty pyramiding pay

Total pyramiding pay: 1.0x straight pay + 1.0x holiday pyramiding pay + 1.0x over-duty pyramiding pay = 3.0x pyramiding pay

AFA is hearing chatter wondering why AFA isn’t filing lawsuits on the pay issues.  The reason is two-fold: first, we use the arbitration process pursuant to our collective bargaining agreement and the Railway Labor Act; and second, most if not all, payroll issues AFA brought forward to the Company were agreed to by the Company and that continues to be the case.

If there are any additional payroll issues that come to light, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Kiara Jenkins at payroll@afaalaska.org.

In Solidarity,

Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Linda Christou, Lisa Pinkston, Terry Taylor, Mario de’Medici, Melissa Osborne, Tim Green, Brice McGee; and MEC Grievance Committee Chairperson Stephanie Adams