A United employee who has contracted COVID-19 reached out to me. We spoke. He shared some disturbing information which United, not surprisingly, has pushed back on. But his story warrants our attention.
The employee chose not to go on the record, for fear of reprisals from his superiors. He works at the Willis Tower in Chicago or “headquarters” as United employees call it.
He described a workplace culture in which employees have been told to show up to work for the sake of optics and where inconsistent messaging places confusion and pressure on employees now worried about job security.
“We were told to keep showing up to work because if we worked from home it would ‘look bad to the front line’. We still have not received any official work-from-home guidelines from any level of leadership and most people just simply stopped showing up to the office or were told via text message from their direct managers to work-from-home.”
Is this really the case? Live and Let’s Fly has gained access to a pair of documents which shed light on United’s work-from-home policy. A document entitled Coronavirus Q&A includes a section called “Am I allowed to work from home?” It states:
“Please coordinate with your supervisor or business office and use our core4 framework to determine if working remotely is an option. If you and your leaders agree that your work can be accomplished remotely, you should feel free to do so.
The Digital Technology team has put together some guidelines, tools and instructions to help managers and team members effectively work remotely. You can find these resources on the Remote Work page.
Digital Technology is also working to add capacity to our remote work platforms, but there may be occasional periods of difficulty accessing systems. In addition, teleconference platforms worldwide are under tremendous stress.”
It is true that there is no clear edict on a preference for working from home. While a United spokesperson pushed the idea that the default for non-critical positions is to work from home, the written policy only mandates that employees receive clearance from their leaders to work remotely.
This, says the employee, is the heart of the problem.
“The security team at Willis Tower had to ban non-essential UA employees from the building because too many were showing up because UA never actually made a decision regarding this.
“The cascading failures of leadership and paralysis in decision making has been extremely concerning. It’s really showing the true colors of the VP and above level. We were told by leadership if we have worries about the future of the airline ‘then maybe we shouldn’t be working here’.”
But in a document entitled, Guidelines for Effective Use of Remote Work, United outlines several specific polices and procedures for working for home including:
- Plan ahead
- Taking equipment home
- Stay open and honest
- Communicate frequently with your manager and team
- Create an effective workspace
- Minimize Distractions
- Use technology to foster collaboration
- Maintain consistent working hours
- Respond promptly
- Show initiative, be proactive, and hold yourself accountable
While this doesn’t address who can work from home, it does illustrate a point I have independently confirmed that the vast majority of non-critical (“non-operations people” as a United spokesperson called it) are now working from home and United has provided details instructions on how to best work from home. In fact, United has even encouraged workers to take home computer equipment like monitors and keyboards to encourage productivity at home.
Lingering Fear Over The Future
The issue goes deeper than working from home or working in the office. At the heart is fear that the future is grim and that management still only cares about numbers, not people. The employee singles out incoming CEO Scott Kirby, but does not limit criticism to him.
“Kirby is always talking out of both sides of his mouth, but for a long time it created financial results. I don’t think Kirby actually cares one way or the other if people come in, but he certainly is pressuring his direct reports to encourage management employees to take the early out, or leave of absence. Now that we are guaranteed pay checks through September 30th and they are still saying it’s not enough to keep the airline afloat, it makes everything sound like a half-truth though so it’s difficult to tell.”
I understand that fear, which is real and justified. But Kirby and his lieutenants also find themselves in a near-impossible position. With loads cratering and revenue depressed to unprecedented levels, not just each employee, but United itself is in a fight for survival during this uncertain time.
United’s Coronavirus Response
The employee who reached out to me has tested positive COVID-19. I asked him if United encouraged him to continue working when his health was not at 100%.
“I was not asked to keep coming in after I informed them I was COVID-19 positive. But the lack of a decision beforehand kept me in the office while I was likely contagious.”
And isn’t that the problem? Of course no organization is going to ask a sick employee, especially now, to work. But if the default position (tacit or explicit) remains to show up for work, then many people who might be contagious and still feeling great may be putting others at risk. That gets to the heart of why stay-at-home and self-isolation measures have been enacted across the USA and around the world.
United has outlined, via Kate Gebo, the Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Labor Relations how it handles coronavirus cases:
- As soon as we become aware of a suspected case – either from the CDC, local health officials or an individual employee – we quickly communicate with that individual.
- We closely partner with local, state and national health officials to guide our response, including following all CDC guidelines.
- We also reach out and quickly contact any other employees who may have come into close contact with the person who is suspected of having COVID-19.
- Given the wide range of workplaces across our operation – offices, call centers, airports, aircraft, etc. – we take different measures to isolate and sanitize any suspected, impacted workspaces. For example, if a crew member is diagnosed with COVID-19, the aircraft upon which they worked is taken out of service immediately and undergoes a deep cleaning.
> Read More: How United Airlines Handles Employees Who Test Positive For COVID-19
But what may be missing here is not the four steps above, but about dealing with the spread of virus before symptoms are shown. This is a problem not specific to United, but to many organizations who are grappling with balancing upended routines and a slowdown in efficiency due to remote working conditions.
United, for its part, is working with employees where possible, but has been reluctant to offer any assurances. Its Coronavirus Q&A document addresses multiple situations including:
- What should I do if I am pregnant and concerned about exposure to someone with COVID-19?
- What should I do if I have a weakened immune system or am considered high risk and concerned about exposure to anyone with COVID-19?
- What should I do if I live with or am a caregiver for someone who is considered high risk?
- Public transportation has been reduced or canceled, and I do not have another way to get to work. What should I do?
- What should I do if my child’s daycare or school is closed?
- If I live in an area that is deemed high risk with numerous COVID-19 cases and have been advised to stay at home by local officials, what should I do?
The answer is the same in every case:
Coordinate with your supervisor or business office and use the core4 framework to determine if working remotely is an option.
Per the Coronavirus Q&A document, employees who do contract COVID-19 must use their sick time and when exhausted, their vacation time while battling the virus.
All of these are not unreasonable per se, but also may create the incentive to come to work when ill.
Other Employees Paint Different Picture
Feeling of uncertainty and in some cases hopelessness run throughout the company. However, not all employees place the blame on management or see duplicity. I spoke to one employee in network planning who told me, “Look. Times are tough. In fact, they stink. But I’m glad to have Kirby at the helm. There’s not a better man to get us through this. I just hope my job remains intact once the dust settles.”
It is perhaps telling that even this glowing endorsement of Kirby was made off the record.
For United’s upper management, it seems the crisis of confidence is predicated more on uncertainty than a specific failure in leadership. But reading through the countless memos Live and Let’s Fly has analyzed in the preceding weeks, I’m not sure what else United can say at this point. Can anything calm frayed nerves?
CONCLUSION
I have no reason to question the feelings and experience of the COVID-19 positive United employee. His point in reaching out was not to impugn his company, but out of love for it. While opinions vary on the scope and severity of the disconnect between upper management and the rest of the employees, no one is disputing what a difficult time this is. Hopefully United…and all companies for that matter…will rise to the occasion and give employees far more than lip service. Survivability depends not just on cash, but in the long-term on a team that supports one another in an environment that nourishes progress, not fear.
Speaking in a purely personal capacity– I’m an industry employee– I think the leadership team has done a good job. There has been such a seismic shift in the industry, and everyone’s daily lives, that it is inevitable that messaging will be inconsistent, fear will percolate, etc. However, the leadership team and almost every employee truly love this company and our work, and we want to do what it takes to make it through this, even if it means a temporary paycut, COLA, etc. I believe in Scott’s vision as much now as when I started
Ok .. So I am also a United employee at O’Hare and I will second my co-workers experience .. thank god I am not sick so far …
But in my department … Fleet service ( baggage handlers) there has been 3 confirmed cases and NOT once has anyone from management said anything to us about it … we are close to 2800 in O’hare in just fleet service.
Even worse a Supervisor in the bag room which is an extremely confined space was and is sick (thank god he is home) but no one word from management … now this supervisor just happens to be a very good one who interacts with tons of employees so the fear is now BLASTING RED with everyone.
In my work area a coworker self admitted on Facebook that he was sick so now everyone is freaking out, as am I. I have a family with small kids and have taken the drastic move of sleeping in the basement of my house to prevent possibly spreading this (in the case if I would to get it)
We have reached out to our safety people, local HR, members of the media and senators in the hope of getting some help. I clearly understand we can say the person’s name due to laws, but have the human decency to say something to us.
The flying public will eventually get it from someone at O’hare … and yes .. they spew all these new “policies’ such as a CORE 4 in order to make it look good to the public, and its all lies. I have only been with United for 10 years and this is frightening. I wish I could afford 6 months off without pay, but I can not; just like everyone else I have family and mortgage to pay.
Have the human decency to say something to else …
One last thing … THEY ARE NOT CLEANING ANYTHING !!!! thats all BS … not once have they brought in a professional cleaning crew even after they know an employee has contracted it.
it’s been plain and simple … United doesn’t care for its employees … only about image and money. When all this is done I really have to see if it’s worth working here anymore. If I get sick that decision will be even easier, but for the sake of my family I hope I don’t.
Thank you for your format where we can let the world know what is really happening
This comes across as the bitching and moaning of an entitled employee. The policy seems very reasonable, giving the green light to WFH if your manager agrees. Did the employee ask his manager? Did the manager refuse? It seems as if the employee did not even bother to ask. Certainly a good manager would have been proactive about communicating with his team, but blaming this on top level management is kind of ridiculous. They clearly issued reasonable guidance.
What I can glean from the article/interview is that the employee has a direct manager who is a lousy communicator and who has rather old fashioned ideas about work schedules (i.e.probably a clock watcher too).
The company itself has a policy not unlike where I work – basically a company that has many roles where people must report to work to keep the company going, while other jobs can be done remotely. Too big of a task to assess that from the level of upper management, so it’s left up to your manager to decide. Very logical, with the sole flaw being: what if your manager is a jerk? Sounds like this may be what the infected employee has had to deal with. Or he’s just a whiner. Could be either thing.
Sorry but when will you finally realise that UNITED is one of the worst airlines of the developed world? UNITED doesn’t value its customers, and this comes across in 95% of employees’ attitude – on the ground and on board. The only two acceptable things are the wine selection in the POLARIS lounges and the 777 POLARIS seat. Everything else is trashy (blue plastic cups, filthy planes) and unacceptable (attitude problem). The leaders at UNITED are total failures, especially when it comes to everything except immediate measures of creating shareholder value. Terrible decision making at UNITED just makes me feel sorry for the pople who work there. Even though those people are never friendly to me and have a very un-American attitude to service, I still feel sorry for them and wish them all the best. Let’s hope that this crisis means that UNITED employees will become grateful for being able to work and serve their customers.
So let me get this straight…
1. Current president and incoming CEO Kirby talks out of both sides of his mouth.
2. Current management – of which Kirby is part – is essentially lying (telling “half truths”) about the ability of the company to survive past 30 September.
3. Leadership – of which Kirby is part – is telling employees that if they have worries about the future of the airline then maybe they shouldn’t be working here.
Yet Kirby is still the best man to get them through this. Really? I wish this person a speedy and full recovery, but perhaps a bit of COVID-related delirium has set in.
“But if the default position (tacit or explicit) remains to show up for work, then many people who might be contagious and still feeling great may be putting others at risk. That gets to the heart of why stay-at-home and self-isolation measures have been enacted across the USA and around the world.”
Funny, I could have sworn that a week or so ago you were defending the need to be in the presence of your employees. And that it was OK, because you weren’t sick.
A little different when it is just me and my business partner in our home office, but nice try.
March 18, 2020
“I’m social distancing in the sense that there are only 4-5 people in my office at a time and I am not shaking hands or getting close…”
https://liveandletsfly.com/social-distancing-is-hard-work-for-this-restless-traveller/
Yes, they’ve gone home. Thanks.
I have many friends who work at Willis Tower for United and all of them are working from home. Nobody has related the heartache mentioned here, so it seems a bit weird.
On an unrelated note, you in several instances above referred to documents being “entitled” a certain name. The correct word to use is “titled”. The word “entitled” means that you are believing yourself of deserving special privileges: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entitled. The word “entitled” has nothing to do with the notion of affixing a title/ name to a certain thing. Just FYI.
Appreciate your first point, but check the definition of entitled again. You are correct concerning the primary definition, but my use is not incorrect.
https://bit.ly/2Jxn6uU
Click on the down arrow and see the second definition.
If he was a flight attendant, I would have assumed that the complications would arise from the AIDS.
United cares nothing for their employees…. has that not been made clear yet? Usually you treat employees well… then customers get treated well. That is the way world class companies operate.
Can confirm that the environment at Willis as a whole is extremely concerned about optics & theater- “as an airline, how dare we think about working from home when our colleagues are slinging bags in -15 degree weather at O’Hare” would be a common discussion point in February. Polar vortex & road conditions be damned.
Certain teams, like Digital Technology, are heavily dependent on contractors, especially those on H1B work visas. Unfortunately for many of my colleagues, not being seen onsite meant a report to multiple bosses and potentially a ticket back home.
Given all these circumstances, it’s not surprising that people continued to show up hacking up a lung, until pressure from city/state government finally yielded an official WFH stance. United’s poorly maintained restrooms didn’t help the situation – restrooms were plagued with broken soap pumps, empty paper towel dispensers, and feces overflowing from clogged toilets. I have absolutely no confidence that anyone had facilities & worker well-being as a priority; only as an expense line.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of contractors (including myself) were released in March, buried among the cost cutting moves. The stimulus bill is too late for us, and still leaves employee colleagues unsure about their future at United.
Sensible employers offer paid leave when someone contracts an infectious disease ( NOT require them to use sick pay/ holidays time). It’s not born of generosity /compassion: it’s there to protect the rest of the workforce.
It’s trivial in comparison with COVID-19, but in my work life I used to get quite exasperated when people would show up to meetings / work ,coughing and sneezing. Disrespectful, inappropriate and thoughtless. I would send them away.
United is to blame here.