DLR attendance policy

[asianway]

Seeing some scuttlebutt on the tweeter about a change to the policy that doesn’t work in the casts favor. What changed so drastically?

 

[wdwfan22]

Here is the updated policy

 

[asianway]

The question is what changed? That sounds boilerplate

 

[Disney Analyst]

It used to be some sort of points system, and now it's a bit more of a strict system.

But it seems very normal to me, I feel any job I've worked at would have a similar process.

 

[wdwfan22]

The question is what changed? That sounds boilerplate

It went from a point-based system to hours based. It now penalizes multi-day illnesses as before a multi-day illness was didn't require additional points for day 2 and so on. This new system will not work for part-time employees. It's going to be a very short, staffed holiday season at Disneyland. They are already canceling dining reservations because of staffing, it's now only going to get worse.

 

[DrAlice]

Ok, just read the article that @Disney Analyst posted in the Miscellaneous Thoughts thread.... I agree that this policy seems pretty standard. That said, if Disney is already having staffing issues with their current, more flexible policy, this new policy is going to make those issues worse.

Yup, going to stay away from the parks for awhile. The Cast is what makes Disneyland what it is. If you replace well-trained, caring, happy cast with disgruntled, one-foot-out-the-door cast, you get Six Flags. And Six Flags is fine, but not worth Disney prices, ya know? No thank you.

 

[SuddenStorm]

The old system was very easy to exploit, and very generous in regards to lateness and absenteeism.

I'm not opposed to this new system if, and only if, Disneyland scheduling actually honors time off requests and availability requests. I have friends who work there who will have time off approved, but then get scheduled those shifts. Or get scheduled when they have class/their other job that scheduling knows about.

I think it's more than reasonable for the part time cast to say 'these are the days/times a week I can work', and if scheduling is able to schedule them- great, and if not- then they don't get hours. And if they go too long without working they lose their benefits (free admission, Disney Aspire, etc.) and possibly their employment.

With full time cast- I think it's more than fair to have this new system in place, and to expect them to be available to work when needed (within reason).

But I've also long been of the opinion that hourly employment at Disneyland is this weird sort of hierarchical hell between scheduling, unions, seniority, and just workplace drama. What should be a standard service job becomes far more convoluted. People get trapped in it and it can make it very difficult, especially for people new at Disney.

The quality of cast member at Disneyland has dropped significantly. I think it'd be more than fair for Disney to tell the unions 'hey, we're fine negotiating for pay/benefits/etc. but you need to make sure your union employees are better than what we'd be getting if there wasn't a union'. It's a two way street, and I think people forget that part of the appeal of the union is that the employer should be getting higher quality labor.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Yup, going to stay away from the parks for awhile. The Cast is what makes Disneyland what it is. If you replace well-trained, caring, happy cast with disgruntled, one-foot-out-the-door cast, you get Six Flags. And Six Flags is fine, but not worth Disney prices, ya know? No thank you.

This... 100 times this. It's shocking how far Disney's standards for their CM's have dropped.

Right now it seems to be out of necessity- they just need to get people to show up to work. But I hope over the long term Disney is able to start raising their standards for employee performance.

Curious to see how things look over the next decade.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Ok, just read the article that @Disney Analyst posted in the Miscellaneous Thoughts thread.... I agree that this policy seems pretty standard. That said, if Disney is already having staffing issues with their current, more flexible policy, this new policy is going to make those issues worse.

Yup, going to stay away from the parks for awhile. The Cast is what makes Disneyland what it is. If you replace well-trained, caring, happy cast with disgruntled, one-foot-out-the-door cast, you get Six Flags. And Six Flags is fine, but not worth Disney prices, ya know? No thank you.

Very good point re: already having issues.

It's definitely a fine line. If you make a system too flexible, people will take advantage of it. I would be interested to see what happens once this goes into place.

 

[DrAlice]

I think it's more than reasonable for the part time cast to say 'these are the days/times a week I can work', and if scheduling is able to schedule them- great, and if not- then they don't get hours. And if they go too long without working they lose their benefits (free admission, Disney Aspire, etc.) and possibly their employment.

When I was a student, this is how I worked and attended classes. I can't imagine my previous bosses trying to schedule me on a day they knew I was in school. That's nuts.

If Disney is scheduling people when they know they can't work, that's just asking people to quit. And those people will tell their friends not to work there. Good luck with that Disneyland.

 

[TP2000]

The question is what changed? That sounds boilerplate

No kidding. This "new" policy seems rather generous and lenient, if you ask me. I can't imagine who would have a problem with it.

Imagine a business expecting its employees to show up on time for their scheduled shifts?!? Or apply accrued sick time to pay for their unplanned absences?!?

How on earth do Gen Z CM's think it should work, I wonder?

That said, if you are a business employing a bunch of part-time college kids like Disneyland does, you better darn well have an efficient and reliable scheduling system in place. So that Ky'le From Tustin can tell his employer he can work his Star Wars Land snack bar shift and bring that land to life for immersed customers only Friday through Monday and Wednesday's after 4.

But, assuming Disneyland has a reliable and efficient scheduling system in place, Ky'le From Tustin better darn well show up for that snack bar shift. People need to be immersed in your story, Ky'le!

 

[Californian Elitist]

I told Disney that I couldn’t work on Sundays and they scheduled me for every Sunday I worked there, except one.

The wife of a previous co-worker of mine got fired from her DCA position when she left her post to vomit in a bathroom and not in front of a guest. She tried to call in sick that morning, but she was told that her job would be on the line if she didn’t come in. Go figure.

I was threatened with a write-up after I went to see a staff nurse after cutting my hand, which overlapped with the start of my lunch.

Disney, create welcoming work environments and maybe your employees will actually enjoy coming in to work and will take their jobs more seriously and come into work when scheduled and on time.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Now I know why I saw that commercial about Disneyland hiring yesterday.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I told Disney that I couldn’t work on Sundays and they scheduled me for every Sunday I worked there, except one.

The wife of a previous co-worker of mine got fired from her DCA position when she left her post to vomit in a bathroom and not in front of a guest. She tried to call in sick that morning, but she was told that her job would be on the line if she didn’t come in. Go figure.

I was threatened with a write-up after I went to see a staff nurse after cutting my hand, which overlapped with the start of my lunch.

Disney, create welcoming work environments and maybe your employees will actually enjoy coming in to work and will take their jobs more seriously and come into work when scheduled and on time.

I do agree, Disney is notorious for scheduling when CM's have notified them of when they cannot work.

If they can get their scheduling in line, I don't see an issue with the new system. But if they cannot schedule properly, this is gonna be a mess.

 

[TP2000]

Did you guys catch this line? I'm laughing out loud here at the absurdity that an employer has to put that in writing, but here we are....

"Cast Members may not attend a Disney-sponsored event or visit a Disney Property as a Guest on a day that they are absent from a shift due to an unexcused or unacceptable absence."

What kind of idiot would call out sick from their scheduled shift and then show up at their employer's property as a customer on that same day???...

• Target Lady calls her boss to say she's sick and can't come in to work, and then a few hours later is seen by her boss casually doing a Target Run and squeezing the Charmin on aisle 12.
• Ky'le From Tustin calls his boss to say he's sick and can't come to work at his immersive snack bar, and then a few hours later is spotted by his boss riding Rise Before Dawn with his buddies.

I find it galling that an employer has to put that in writing nowadays. But it's just so ridiculous that all I can do is laugh.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I do agree, Disney is notorious for scheduling when CM's have notified them of when they cannot work.

If they can get their scheduling in line, I don't see an issue with the new system. But if they cannot schedule properly, this is gonna be a mess.

I also don’t have a big issue with the system. Employees should be coming in to work when they’re scheduled, and on time. They of course should be letting their employers know when they can’t come in. Those who don’t do these things have terrible work ethic. However, I do strongly believe that Disney has work to do regarding establishing a healthy work environment, assuming it’s still the same from when I was a CM.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Did you guys catch this line? I'm laughing out loud here at the absurdity that an employer has to put that in writing, but here we are....

"Cast Members may not attend a Disney-sponsored event or visit a Disney Property as a Guest on a day that they are absent from a shift due to an unexcused or unacceptable absence."

What kind of idiot would call out sick from their scheduled shift and then show up at their employer's property as a customer on that same day???...

• Target Lady calls her boss to say she's sick and can't come in to work, and then a few hours later is seen by her boss casually doing a Target Run and squeezing the Charmin on aisle 12.
• Ky'le From Tustin calls his boss to say he's sick and can't come to work at his immersive snack bar, and then a few hours later is spotted by his boss riding Rise Before Dawn with his buddies.

I find it galling that an employer has to put that in writing nowadays. But it's just so ridiculous that all I can do is laugh.

Someone did this when I worked at Universal. He was promptly fired.

 

[TP2000]

I told Disney that I couldn’t work on Sundays and they scheduled me for every Sunday I worked there, except one.

Were you statused part-time? In the hospitality industry, at a property that has Sunday's as it's busiest operational day of the week? Did you not realize Disneyland was open (and very busy!) on Sunday's when you applied for the job?

The wife of a previous co-worker of mine got fired from her DCA position when she left her post to vomit in a bathroom and not in front of a guest. She tried to call in sick that morning, but she was told that her job would be on the line if she didn’t come in. Go figure.

So just that one single time of calling in sick led to her firing? There were no previous absences and no previous documented warnings regarding all her previous absences?

Hourly CM's were fired after one, single absence for being sick? Surely that wasn't the case with the previous attendance policy.

I was threatened with a write-up after I went to see a staff nurse after cutting my hand, which overlapped with the start of my lunch.

One single visit to the nurse which caused you to be late for your lunch break and you were "threatened with a write-up"? What is a "write-up"? A documentation that showed you were late for your lunch? So you told your supervisor that you cut your hand on the job and needed to see the nurse for first aid care, and the supervisor told you that you were not allowed to access first aid and were "getting a write-up"?

There seems to be some pieces missing there.

 

[TP2000]

Someone did this when I worked at Universal. He was promptly fired.

Good. As it should be. Glad to see Universal still has standards of profesionalism, even if Disneyland is late to the game.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Were you statused part-time? In the hospitality industry, at a property that has Sunday's as it's busiest operational day of the week? Did you not realize Disneyland was open (and very busy!) on Sunday's when you applied for the job?



So just that one single time of calling in sick led to her firing? There were no previous absences and no previous documented warnings regarding all her previous absences?

Hourly CM's were fired after one, single absence for being sick? Surely that wasn't the case with the previous attendance policy.



One single visit to the nurse which caused you to be late for your lunch break and you were "threatened with a write-up"? What is a "write-up"? A documentation that showed you were late for your lunch? So you told your supervisor that you cut your hand on the job and needed to see the nurse for first aid care, and the supervisor told you that you were not allowed to access first aid and were "getting a write-up"?

There seems to be some pieces missing there.

I actually had NO idea that Disneyland was open on Sundays. Never had a clue prior to applying for DCP…

I worked full-time. And when they asked for my request for days off, I asked if it could be any day. They said yes. I then asked if it could be a weekend. They said yes. Don’t tell your employees you can have any day of the week off if you don’t actually mean that. Be specific about the days that are acceptable and the ones that aren’t.

I didn’t say she was fired after one single time. I simply said she tried to call off sick, she came in anyway due to pressure, and ended up getting fired again.

Yes, “threatened with a write-up.” A write-up is a type of disciplinary action. It’s a warning, essentially. My lead was there when I cut my hand. He told me to see the nurse, which I did. When I returned, management called me in.