Change in appraisal system for SIA cabin crew

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has confirmed that it will be changing its cabin crew appraisal system.

From April, cabin crew will no longer have their incentive points docked when they take sick leave for common ailments such as coughs and colds, The Straits Times reported.

Currently, 4-6% of the annual appraisal system is made up of an medical certificate (MC) component which takes away incentive points for casual medical certificates (MCs).

An MC is recorded as casual if it is submitted for common ailments and each cabin crew member starts with 10 incentive points a year, which are progressively deducted and all lost once 12 casual MCs are accumulated, The Straits Times explained.

An SIA spokesperson has confirmed to Human Resources that changes will be made to the appraisal system saying: "We have been reviewing and will be restructuring the cabin crew's annual appraisal scorecard which takes into account areas such as customer feedback, their operational and regulatory knowledge, etc in order to more accurately reflect their work performance. We regret that we are unable to share details of the appraisal."

The Straits Times noted that the change comes about a year after staff complained that the current system discourages those who are genuinely ill from resting at home.

While cabin crew have been unhappy about the system for many years, their grouses resurfaced in February last year after a stewardess, who allegedly told her colleagues that she was not feeling well, was found dead in her hotel room in San Francisco. The cause of death has not been made public.

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