European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 9, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes tuesday september 9,1986 letters army sick leave restrictions explained i would like to address a situation thai i think is totally unfair. I work for an organisation that comes under the direction of i he 21st support come. For some Rea son the most important Issue for Ihm seems to be civilian sick leave especially that of family Mem Bers. The department of the army prams four hours lick leave every pay period to family members. This averages Oul to about eight hours per month How Ever the 21st support come sets its own goal at five hours per month. When family members exceed this goal pressure is put on commanders who in turn pressure i hair employees to not use so much sick leave. Local nationals los also have a goal set for them by the 21 is support come. They Are allowed eight hours per month sick leave. When questioned about the difference in goals the command s Stock answer is that these Are two different systems and cannot be compared. However when the end of month reports Roll around we arc definitely compared to the los. Another interesting aspect is that when a family member is sick or has a doctor s appointment every hour he or she is absent from the Job site is counted As sick leave. If an in comes to work at All and then goes Home sick this is not counted As a sick Day 11 All. The same applies to doctor s appoint ments. Naturally this practice keeps the sick leave Rale Down on the in Side of the House. Both family members and los Are penalized for their sick leave. If an employee exceeds the sick leave goal set by the 21st support come Fie is nol eligible for an award or promotion even if his total productivity far exceeds that of other employees who arc not out sick. The rationalization behind this practice is that when an employee is out sick the workload Falls on other employees. But commanders have gone so far As to suggest thai family members take annual leave or leave without pay when they arc sick so As to keep the sick leave rate Down. It seems to me that it would t matter if an employee is on annual leave sick leave or leave with out pay. The workload is still there and the employee is still gone. So this reasoning is not very logical. Threats have also been made to remove employees who use excess sick leave. 1 wholeheartedly agree that a person who is Abus ing sick leave should be removed. However if an employee is sick he should be Home in bed and nol at the Job Silt spread ing germs soothers. This is Why the . Government Grants sick leave and the Vasi majority of employees use it for the purpose for which it is intended. For the record i am not exceeding the sick leave goal which the 21st support come imposes on me. I have approximately six weeks sick leave accrued so it would be hard to imply 1 am an abuser. This whole situation totally frustrates me because it is actually penalizing employees for using the sick leave which they have earned and to which they Are entitled. Because of the difference in regulations the Brunt of this Falls on the family member although this situation is unfair to the family member and in alike. I would like to know which regulation gives the 21st support come the authority to impose its goal on i s employees and allows it to enforce this goal by denying awards and promotions. Name ind location withheld editor s note William Ward civilian personnel division office of the Deputy chief of Suff personnel if Usa eur replies the Opportunity to respond to your concerns i welcomed Lince it gives a a Chance to clarify often misunderstood facts about civilian employment conditions. Sick leave is a Benefit earned by ill eligible . Civilian employees not just family members. Hours earned May be died when needed or saved without limitation Idt later use. If not used by the time an eligible employee re tires it will be credited to the employee s length of service and increase inc retirement annuity. Local National employees do not earn sick leave therefore they cannot accrue and Tarry Over an unlimited amount is , employees can. Instead when the in employee is absent because of illness or injury pay entitlement Horn the employer May continue far up to 12 weeks. Thereafter the health insurance Carrier becomes responsible for continuing pay. The . Employee s pay entitlements front the employer continue for As Long As the accrued sick leave permits. In addition he or she can Hen use annual leave leave without pay and even an Advance of sick leave when justified in decrying cases. As Yon noted the systems Are quite different and difficult to compare they Are based on different work and social practices. The end results however How a Simitar pm gift on employee morale and welfare. Following several years improvement in productivity resulting from decreasing use of sick leave army wide the department of the army established 48 hours per year to the new objective for . Employees Down from 62 hours. Usa eur set the objective at 95 hours per year for in employees Down from is hours. To achieve these goals activities were challenged o achieve a s percent reduction each subsequent year until the goals Are obtained. Thus 21 it support come s goal ibis year reflects an interim stage of reducing she leave usage and lick absence toward achieving the objectives. Other major i commands have established similar intermediate i goals to reflect their particular needs. Usa eur policy recognizes the need to seek every Avenue toward maximum productivity. However this is not to be construed m a restriction or admonition against sick absences or use of tick leave when warranted. Such absence caused by ulcers or physical incapacity or for doctor or dentil Lihs i i right of each employee. It would be improper to deny an employee consideration for a award or promotion based solely on absence for valid reasons. On the other hand it is proper for a supervisor or commander to encourage employees to schedule medical appointments in tie Early morning or late afternoon to disrupt the work As Little As possible. Similarly an employee May elect to use annual leave or leave without pay rather than sick leave. Was to the Bottom line employees should not sick leave absence benefits to the extent needed la regain his or her health and return to fall work productivity. Supervisors should Correct those situations involving abuse or misuse of the benefits we tic penalizing others. Writer feels left out on use of credit cards cafes has implemented the use of Mastercard and visa in exchanges throughout Europe. How can cafes allow the use of these cards Here when the military banking facility does not offer Mastercard or visa credit cards to their customers docs the military banking facility Amelco plan on offering Mastercard and visa credit cards to their customers in the near future t doubt that it has even been asked for in inc negotiation for their new contract. For those who Don t know the . Banks that do offer these services will not even consider your application for a card unless you reside in the . I have an excellent credit rating and have been trying unsuccessfully for Over a year to get a card from several . Banks for this very reason. My local credit Union Here in Germany does not offer credit card service either. The Only alternative would be to open a Bank account in a German Bank but the German Banks have a six month probation period in which you must show he Bank that you Are a Good credit risk before they will even allow you the use of euro checks let alone a euro card Mastercard. With the euro card one must also pay in do so each Exchange Purchase would be converted from dollars to do and then the entire balance paid in do in full at the end of each month. This is certainly undesirable. The american express card is also not desirable since Billing is done on a pay in full at the end of each month basis. You might As Well pay Cash or us layaway or App. I understand thai it is possible that some cafes patrons May have credit cards which they got while stationed in the . Before coming to Europe and the credit card institution has nol Yel realized that i hair new Apo new York address is an overseas address. So be it. However cafes should nol discriminate against those who Don l presently have the cards and Are unable to apply for and gel them while living overseas. My feeling is thai cafes should not have implemented the use of Mastercard and visa in the euro Pean exchanges until All its patrons had Access to a banking institution which would Issue these credit cards to customers who live overseas. Since the military banking facility is the primary Bank for Dod overseas they should offer the cards. Name withheld Wiesbaden German 1 editor s note we received two replies to this letter. The Tat is from master sol. Brace e. Zuelsdorf customer relations specialist Public affairs office he cafes Europe time to Call out the Rumor control  we can Only speak for cafes Europe but would like a moment to dispel a few of your misconceptions. It s obvious a lot of our customers already hold visa or Mastercard almost b percent of Aafke Europe gales have been charged since we implemented credit card purchases on july 24. In View of the High level of customer acceptance cafes is in the process of contracting with Banks to put their applications in our exchanges. Our primary objective to select companies who will offer favourable annual interest rates and fees a Well As provide the Opportunity for younger patrons and overseas customers to participate. This process will take about three months. The bigger picture each card issuing Bank sets us own policies on issuing credit. Basically they review income Levels necessary to qualify acceptable debt ratios and residency requirements along with other factors. Some Banks which previously issued cards Over seas changed their policy to stateside Only Issue be cause customers frequently did t receive their in Alemenos on Lime and consequently did t make payment promptly. There was a higher incidence of fraud from cards being stolen or lost in the mall. Customer service is dependent upon convenient Telephone service through toll free numbers not accessible overseas. For your information we be also checked with the various credit unions in Europe serving american forces. Pentagon Federal and finance ctn Lef Federal currently Issue credit cards to member based on the merits of each application. Andrew Federal and Seesler Federal indicate they will begin issuing cred it cards to members in the near future. Bottom line Congress authorized cafes la join other 20th-Century retailers by affording customer the Opportunity to make purchases with commercial credit cards. We feel implementation to cafes Europe has been a Complete Success. Cafes is making a comprehensive Effort to ensure this Purchase option is available to the widest possible segment of our customer base. The second reply is from Balsy a Phinson Market ing coordinator consumer soviets american express Community ranking. Thank you fur allowing us to clarify Community Hank policies. As you know cafes in conjunction with local commands and the department of defense decided to accept Mastercard and visa throughout the Post Exchange system. This decision did nol however affect Community Banks which operate under a department of defense contract. Al this time Community Banks Are nol authorized to Issue any credit or charge cards directly. To clarify we. Re not authorized to extend credit in conjunction with any card. However the Community Bank does offer a revolving line of credit product pal. Most of the issues raised in your Teller cannot be properly expressed by the american express Bomnin Nily Bank. Rather you May want to direct your letter to the organizations responsible for the selection of Mastercard and  you have any questions or concerns regard ing american express Community Bank products and services please feel free to con Luck me at  express Ltd mid consumer services dept. 290, Apo 09757