DLR attendance policy

[DLR92]

You think this policy is too harsh?

I do

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

So, to put it simply...

A new part time employee has to miss 19 scheduled shifts (that are made according to your own personal schedule (class on mon, wed, Fri= no work those days etc.)) in a six week period before being let go?

 

[TP2000]

So, to put it simply...

A new part time employee has to miss 19 scheduled shifts (that are made according to your own personal schedule (class on mon, wed, Fri= no work those days etc.)) in a six week period before being let go?

Nineteen Strikes You're Out!*

So, suddenly we're all no longer incensed that evil Disneyland execs would be so mean to their hourly CM's?

*For brand new Cast Members who end their 120 Day Probationary Period with only 6 hours of accrued Sick Time.

 

[MarvelCharacterNerd]

So, to put it simply...

A new part time employee has to miss 19 scheduled shifts (that are made according to your own personal schedule (class on mon, wed, Fri= no work those days etc.)) in a six week period before being let go?

Except that's not how scheduling works there. People are regularly scheduled on unavailable days or previously requested/approved days off and have to frantically trade shifts already.

If the scheduling team actually accommodated CM's real/requested schedules, then yes, the new policy would be fine.

But they don't.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

What's stated in the contract?

I did a quick look and found a reddit thread from last year of CMs saying that Disney is very accommodating to school schedules. Apparently the only firmer requirement is fri-sun be available.

You have experience with telling Disney you have classes on Monday and then they schedule you on Mondays?

Edit- I see another quick reddit thread mentioning what you say. So I do wonder, what does a part time employee contract with Disney say? Has the union done anything about this? They're such a strong union, don't the help where it counts?

I type this while grabbing some dinner on the clock heading up north for a job this week. Everyone is short staffed but there are agreed upon procedures in your employment contract. Example- if I put a vacay request in 2 weeks prior to the time off, they can't do anything about it.

 

[TP2000]

Except that's not how scheduling works there. People are regularly scheduled on unavailable days or previously requested/approved days off and have to frantically trade shifts already.

If the scheduling team actually accommodated CM's real/requested schedules, then yes, the new policy would be fine.

But they don't.

This seems to be the main problem here, not the actual attendance policy.

You must admit that Nineteen Strikes You're Out! doesn't have the same ring to it now that we know that Three Strikes You're Out! was simply misinformation.

As @MoonRakerSCM mentioned, some CM's claim that Disneyland does a fine job of scheduling around their school schedule, while some CM's claim Disneyland does a horrible job at it and blatantly schedules them on days they can't work. So who knows???

It seems to me that in this modern age of computerized processes, if a part-time college aged CM creates a request to not work on certain weekdays at certain times, Disneyland (or any modern company) could accomodate that. So long as the CM shows up to work on Saturday night when they are scheduled to be there.

If Disneyland truly can't get that to work, and they schedule Ky'le From Tustin to work on a Tuesday morning when he already told the Scheduling Department that he has Biology Lab on Tuesday's and then the Scheduling Department refuses to admit their mistake and fix his shift, then Disneyland has no one to blame but themselves.

 

[TP2000]

One of the BIG HORRIBLE THINGS! this new attendance policy was said to do was to fire many tenured and very lovely CM's just before Christmas without whom the Disneyland Resort couldn't get through the Holiday Season.



A few quotes from other websites that now make me giggle...

"Expect a difficult holiday season at the Disneyland Resort as high guest demand meets a shrinking number of cast members."
"Many Cast Members are predicting that Cast will be fired or will quit just before the holidays as a result of this new policy."

So let's see how that's going to work once this new policy kicks in on October 2nd.

We'll revist Miss Carnation Cafe, who has modest tenure and yet let's pretend she only has 8 hours of Sick Time banked when the new policy begins on October 2nd. She has already missed 15 shifts earlier in the year under the old policy, and only has 8 hours of Sick Time to use. We will assume every single shift she is scheduled is a full 8 hour shift, and let's just pretend that Miss Carnation Cafe can go a full week in between all of her various illnesses she is afflicted with this autumn.

Here's her sad tale that theoretically leaves Disneyland short staffed at Christmas...

Thursday, October 6th - Call Sick, 8 Hours Sick Pay Used = Excused Absence (but she's got no more Sick Time!)
Friday, October 7th - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Saturday, October 8th - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence

She's off Sundays and Mondays. She returns to work on Tuesday, she's used her last Sick Hours and now has 16 hours of Unexcused Absences and the new attendance policy is now tracking her.

Friday, October 21st - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Saturday, October 22nd - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence

That last Call Sick on Saturday the 22nd pushed her over 25 hours of Unexcused Absences, and on Thursday her Dockers-clad manager sets her down and administers her first Verbal Warning under the new attendance policy. Her clock resets and we wait for her to accrue the next 25+ missed hours of scheduled shifts...

Wednesday, November 2nd - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Thursday, November 3rd - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Friday, November 4th - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Saturday, November 5th - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence

Bingo! On that Saturday shift she finally passed 25 hours of missed shifts again. The following Thursday she receives her Written Warning from her manager. She works a full week without missing a single shift (Superwoman!), but then...

Wednesday, November 16th - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Thursday, November 17th - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Friday, November 18th - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Saturday, November 19th - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence

She gets her Last & Final Written Warning adminstered to her the next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. She's missed so many shifts lately that she's only accrued 4 hours of Sick Time, not enough to cover a full shift. She actually works over Thanksgiving weekend, as the overtime pay on holidays helps soothe the heartache of choosing a career in the Hospitality Industry.

But after Thanksgiving, and with all the leftovers eaten, all bets are off for Miss Carnation Cafe...

Wednesday, November 30th - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Thursday, December 1st - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Friday, December 2nd - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence
Saturday, December 3rd - Call Sick, No Sick Hours Applied = Unexcused Absence

As per usual, it's that Saturday shift that finally pushed her past 25 hours of unexcused absences. On Thursday, December 8th she is Terminated under the new attendance policy. Disneyland must hire a new Miss Carnation Cafe to replace her.

But what did it take for her to be fired before Christmas? She only had 8 hours of Sick Time, and she was being scheduled 8 hour shifts. She missed 17 full-time shifts in just less than two months time in order to be fired.

And we were going to depend on her to work over the busy Christmas season and not call in sick? That seems risky. If she can't show up for multiple shifts on weekdays in October, why would you depend on her to work Christmas Day and New Year's Eve?

Honestly, are these other websites and online personalities peddling this stuff that dense?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Chile…

 

[TP2000]

What's stated in the contract?

There's a good question. What is stated in the Union Contracts about attendance at Disneyland?

https://ufcw324.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Disneyland-CLEAN-COPY-CBA-2018-2021.pdf

Looking at that one "Master Services" contract that covers Attractions and Parking CM's, it appears that the attendance policy is entirely handed over to Disneyland management to decide and to manage. The unions don't have much sway, if any. They may talk a good game, as a few have recently about being upset over this policy change. But it's now very apparent the unions representing many hourly CM's at Disneyland have no legal standing to dictate or shape the attendance policy that all CM's must abide by.

That's interesting. So what, exactly, are unionized CM's paying all that dues money for, I wonder?

 

[shambolicdefending]

If this new attendance policy is really so draconian and inflexible, it will fail very quickly. To my knowledge, Disneyland employment is not indentured servitude, and those who find the policy not to their liking can leave at any time for any other job they can get that is more suitable. In the current labor shortage environment they should have lots of options.

Of course, based on what we've been able to gather by actually reading the policy (and not just the tweets and headlines), this is probably the most flexible and forgiving policy I've ever seen for a front-line workforce - certainly more forgiving than anything I ever experienced when I was still going to school and working front-line jobs.

I get the reaction, though. It's a union environment and that means anything the big, bad corporation does has to be automatically put through the outrage-o-matic. It's all part of the game.

 

[WDWTrojan]

So, to put it simply...

A new part time employee has to miss 19 scheduled shifts (that are made according to your own personal schedule (class on mon, wed, Fri= no work those days etc.)) in a six week period before being let go?

No, because you accrue the vacation time. Many only have a day or two accrued, if that. Plus, termination is only one penalty, most employees don't want to have a "written warning" on their record in hopes of promotions, transfers, etc.

 

[smooch]

Not sure why it's so tough to understand that the main problem is many workplaces but according to many online, including people on this forum, that Disney is not good at honoring schedules. Part time workers seem to be expected to be able to work multiple jobs / go to school while working one or more job and be available every single day when that is not realistic. I am lucky enough to work part time during the school year in an office job but I worked at a sushi restaurant during my senior year of high school / freshman year of college and especially during college I was taking 6 classes and working 40 hour weeks, I had no free time. I told my managers I couldn't work Thursdays for school and got scheduled for basically every other Thursday.

At one point they were scheduling me so much because someone else quit that I told them I couldn't keep up with the increased hours and would have to quit if I couldn't go back to just working my normal 40 hours. I would wake up at 7 AM, go to my 8 AM class, go to work to open the restaurant after and work the lunch shift, go back to campus after work, go home and do homework, and take care of any other errands / responsibilities / etc. on top of being in a band and having rehearsals / gigs that we got paid for. I would request a day off, be told I would have it off, then get scheduled anyways. That wasn't every time but it happened a few times and I had to miss concerts or family events to work on days I was told I'd have off. I couldn't do it anymore while having a full course load so I had to put my 2 weeks in.

While looking at the new system vs. the old point system it seems obvious that you should get in trouble for unexcused absences / tardies / etc. but the thing that upsets me the most for CMs is the fact that their sicknesses will basically wipe out all their time off. I know people have been running numbers and coming up with scenarios but the reality is a lot of these CMs have other jobs / school / etc. and on top of the already stressful job working in hospitality in general and this new system simply just makes it worse for CMs. I haven't heard of stories of CMs abusing the point system to try to get out of as much work as possible, if that was a thing then I take my statements back but this change seems like it will just further lower CM morale and wasn't really necessary. Sure the holiday season(s) is/are coming up but Disneyland has been running for 67 years and have done as well as they can.

I know we always hear how so many people want to work at Disney so it seems like they can get away with stricter rules than an average job elsewhere but I feel like at a certain point Disney will reach a problem Amazon has been having / approaching where they are running out of new people to hire because so many people have started working there only to quit due to poor treatment. If you don't make sure the workplace is healthy and employees actually don't mind or enjoy showing up to work then you're gonna cycle through employees quickly, and eventually you're gonna have a huge portion of the local population who has either worked there or know people who already worked there and will tell others how bad their experience was and people will avoid working there.

 

[TP2000]

Of course, based on what we've been able to gather by actually reading the policy (and not just the tweets and headlines), this is probably the most flexible and forgiving policy I've ever seen for a front-line workforce - certainly more forgiving than anything I ever experienced when I was still going to school and working front-line jobs.

That's what I learned too. It's certainly nothing even close to Three Stikes You're Out! even if you put it in the same bolded italics as Nineteen Strikes You're Out!

I get the reaction, though. It's a union environment and that means anything the big, bad corporation does has to be automatically put through the outrage-o-matic. It's all part of the game.

That's a good point about automatic outrage at the big, bad corporation.

Add in the stunted brain power that Social Media has created for many folks now, plus some websites that clearly didn't actually read the policy they were writing articles about, and you've got a classic case of Misinformation Gone Wild.

 

[TP2000]

While looking at the new system vs. the old point system it seems obvious that you should get in trouble for unexcused absences / tardies / etc. but the thing that upsets me the most for CMs is the fact that their sicknesses will basically wipe out all their time off.

I agree with you that any decent company, especially a big one like Disneyland, must be able to stick to the scheduling commitments they make with their employees. In this case, the college-aged employees who do much of the work at a place like Disneyland.

FYI, Full-time CM's earn both Sick Time and Vacation Time. They are two separate benefits, with two separate banks. The accrual rates for Vacation Time are different, and the hours add up faster than they do for Sick Time.

Basically, a CM with less than 4 years seniority earns 80 Vacation Hours per year, a CM with 5+ years earns 120 Vacation Hours per year, on up to 200 Vacation Hours per year for CM's who have worked there for 20 or more years.

From that Union contract I found and posted earlier...

II. Vacation Accrual by Calendar Year
A. All eligible employees shall receive vacation based on the number of straight-time hours worked as well as vacation hours paid from the date of hire to the end of the calendar year in which hired and for each succeeding calendar year thereafter, however an employee on an authorized leave of absence for illness or injury, shall not accrue additional vacation time.

C.
1. Eligible Regular employees shall accrue vacation benefits on the two (2) week
vacation accrual formula beginning with the start of employment as a Regular employee through the
end of the 4th year of service based upon formula "A" below.
2. Eligible Regular employees shall accrue vacation benefits on the three (3) week
vacation accrual formula beginning with the start of the 5th year of service through the end of the
14th year of service based upon formula "B" below.
3. Eligible Regular employees shall accrue vacation benefits on the four (4) week
vacation accrual formula beginning with the start of the 15th year of service based upon formula "C"
below.
4. Effective 1/1/99, eligible Regular employees shall accrue vacation benefits on the five (5) week vacation accruformula beginning with the start of the 20th year of service based upon formula “D” below.

 

[smooch]

FYI, Full-time CM's earn both Sick Time and Vacation Time. They are two separate benefits, with two separate banks. The accrual rates for Vacation Time are different, and the hours add up faster than they do for Sick Time.

Part time CM's don't though, correct? I admit I don't know the specifics of part time vs. full time CM's in regards to vacation and / or sick time. I am glad and honestly kinda expected full time employees to have both, but I still think that many companies these days are ridiculous with trying to force sick employees to come to work. At least with COVID that has calmed down but it's already mostly come back to employers trying to convince employees who are calling in sick to show up for work anyways. I understand companies / businesses need employees to run, but a company as big as Disney should have enough employees available to cover an employee who calls out sick within a reasonable time.

But those are just my thoughts which don't matter since this policy doesn't affect me in any way. I really just think Disney needs to try to cut down on part-time CM's who are overworked and underpaid and try to focus on retaining full time CM's and making them happy so they in turn work harder in their jobs and provide better experiences to the park guests. I know Disney already has a decent full time CM population but we all know how much Disney has relied on DCP / part time CM's recently.

 

[BornOnTheMatterhorn]

This thread is making me want to call in sick.

 

[TP2000]

This thread is making me want to call in sick.

Do it! You've got at least 18 of them to use before they fire you.

 

[TP2000]

Six more weeks until this horrible new attendance policy takes effect. Don't think I haven't forgotten!

Three Strikes You're Out!.... er.... um... Nineteen Strikes You're Out!

 

[Professortango1]

Six more weeks until this horrible new attendance policy takes effect. Don't think I haven't forgotten!

Three Strikes You're Out!.... er.... um... Nineteen Strikes You're Out!

You can't really use the 19 strikes as the number as write ups and disciplinary measures happen well before then. Get sick for a few days and we're threatening you is more appropriate.

 

[TP2000]

You can't really use the 19 strikes as the number as write ups and disciplinary measures happen well before then. Get sick for a few days and we're threatening you is more appropriate.

Yeah, I went through all that extensively here to correct the sloppy misinformation being spread by another website.

Basically, if you are a CM with zero Sick Hours to use, you get spoken to by a Dockers-clad manager every fourth or fifth absence to receive a "Warning" with various labels attached to it. Repeat that process three times in rapid succession (like two or three months) to prevent yourself from accruing Sick Hours to excuse your next absences, and you get fired.

But Nineteen Strikes & Three Formal Warnings You're Out! is even less catchy of a slogan.