" ... High casual medical leave ... indication that you are a poor performer ... "

" ... If you are still in very poor health ... you may prefer to be transferred ... "

" ... Excessive casual medical leave ... you are a very poor performer ... "

What are the implications of such letters? Are staff who are sick not allowed to proceed with the medical leave granted by doctors? Are they expected to work even when they have been certified medically unfit for the day?

The Union is puzzled at the powers held by some of these Departmental and Section heads over the actions to be taken against the staff concerned. Do these letters from the Departmental heads indicate their doubt of the doctors' professional ethics and practices? Are doctors the one who decide when a staff is entitled to medical leave... or is this the 'job' of the Departmental heads too?

This debate about medical leave is, of course, not one sided. The Union wants to be clear that it does not support nor condone the actions of staff who abuse the benefits accorded to them. In fact, we are heartened to know the good majority of our staff are healthy and do not need to malinger to stay away from work.

However, the dilemma remains - what should the staff do when they are unwell?

On one hand, staff are asked to consult the doctor when they are unwell. Yet, in some cases, when they are advised by the doctors to undertake light duties, some were told that the Department or Sections do not entertain light duties request, thus encouraging more medical leaves.

Theoretically speaking, medical leave is given by a doctor to a patient when he/she is, by the doctor's expertise, deemed unfit to work and requires time off to rest or be given a duty lighter than the normal function.

Should staff be questioned for accepting medical leave, from the doctors whom they have consulted? Also, should the unfortunate happen, can a staff who did not proceed when given the medical leave by the doctors be covered legally?

Staff given medical leave are expected to rest. In the past, they have been cases of staff found abusing the authority given to them and was disciplined accordingly to serve its purpose and objective that sick leave is given only to the sick.

Falling sick, for anyone including workers and their supervisors, is never a matter of choice. No one chooses to be sick. However, when it does happen, empathy has to be shown by both parties. Simply, the root of our dilemma lies in the integrity of both the staff and departmental heads.

Staff must learn that to remain as the world's best airline, we must all work as a joint team force. This means not abusing the incentives and facilities that have been put in place to reward deserving workers. Departmental heads too, must also learn to give due respect and trust to the staff that work under their supervision. As it is often said, in order to earn respect, one must first be respectful.

In order to resolve this problem, both supervisors and workers must work co-operatively as a team - while one learns not to abuse the authority granted upon his/her position, the other must learn not to abuse his/her rights and entitlements.