This office is currently handling several leave of absence cases in which our members have been mislead or just plain lied to by local operating officers or Employee Assistance Program representatives. Sadly, these Carrier representatives simply cannot be trusted.

In some cases involving employees who are sick or injured, the Carrier has sent them medical status forms and even "official" Leave of Absence Request Forms, with specific instructions on what medical information should be furnished and to whom the form should be directed for approval of the leave of absence. Then, in other cases at the same location (and in one case, the same employee), the Carrier sends them nothing, although the Carrier is fully aware of their injury or illness, and then closes their record because they failed to secure a leave of absence. In another case, the EAP counselor advised an employee that she (the counselor) would submit all necessary paperwork and would secure the leave of absence for the employee. The counselor failed to do so, and the Division Superintendent closed the employee's record, even though the EAP counselor's involvement was fully documented.

The bottom line is that employees must trust no one when it comes to securing a leave of absence. Regardless what you are told by a supervisor, and regardless what propaganda the Carrier distributes about the confidentiality of the EAP or what help those counselors may promise, employees who are off beyond the allowable limit (30 days under most Agreement rules) should secure a written leave of absence themselves. We will certainly pursue these cases in which the Carrier was dishonest or incompetent in its handling of these matters, but our members need to be aware that trusting any Carrier representative may jeopardize their career.