Employee Assistance & Professional Standards

From time to time, everyone experiences personal or work-related problems. Sometimes, these problems can overwhelm our normal coping strategies. Support from a trained peer or a referral to a mental health professional may prove helpful.

The AFA EAP helps members, their families and partners deal with concerns on and off the job that affect them. The AFA EAP is strongly committed to the health, safety and well-being of all of its members.

EAP@afa66.org Confidential Voicemail (480) 966-1231 extension 27   24-Hour Emergency Pager 1-800-372-8673

Mission

The Association of Flight Attendants Employee Assistance Program (AFA EAP) is a confidential resource available to the members, their families and their partners to assist with personal, as well a work-related concerns. AFA EAP provides three distinct but interrelated services, including:

1) Assessment, support and resource referral

2) Advancement of professional standards through conflict resolution

3) Response to critical and traumatic incidents. AFA’s objective in providing these services is to enhance the health, safety and well-being of its union family with the highest quality of peer support available within the EAP industry.

Are EAP services confidential?

Yes! Your contacts and discussions with the EAP are confidential. Information is only released in accordance with federal and state confidentiality regulations.

Does the EAP cost anything?

No! Supported by your union dues since 1980, AFA-CWA’s nationally acclaimed EAP has provided free services to thousands of flight attendants, their families, and partners.

When should I call the EAP?

Anytime! Or as soon as you, your partner, or family feel like a problem is getting too difficult to handle alone. No matter how small or large the problem may be, AFA-CWA EAP can help.

What happens when I call the EAP?

Good things! Your trained EAP peer representative can answer any questions you may have about EAP services available to you. The peer representative will listen to your concerns, answer any questions you may have, offer guidance and support, and assist you with locating resources. The only thing you have to lose is the problem.

Professional Standards

The Professional Standard Committee offers a range of conflict resolution strategies, skills and support to help co-workers resolve disputes among themselves without the need for management intervention.  Lets keep issues among our work group within the professional standards committee.  We can mediate between flight attendant to flight attendant and flight attendant to pilots.  If we keep a situation in house (within professional standards), we are able to prevent company sanctions and disciplinary actions.    

EAP SERVICES

EAP Peer Representatives are trained to provide three distinct, but interrelated services;

·         Assessment, Support and Referral Services:  EAP representatives assist members in identifying and developing an action plan to address personal and work related concerns.  Peer representatives can provide confidential referrals to professionally trained counselors within the Flight Attendants community.  Basically you can contact us for a referral that we can make without going through the company’s EAP (Contact).

·         Professional Standards:  EAP representatives offer a range of conflict resolution strategies, skills and support to help coworkers resolve disputes among themselves without the need for management intervention.  Lets keep issues among our work group within the professional standards committee.  We can mediate between F/A to F/A, F/A and pilots.  If we keep a situation in house (within professional standards), we are able to prevent company sanctions and disciplinary actions.    

·         Critical Incident Response Program:  EAP representatives offer and/or coordinate a range of Critical Incident Stress Management Services to promote and accelerate recovery in the aftermath of traumatic and/or critical incident on or off the job. EAP representatives may be deployed to assist another carrier as an EAP representative helping FA’s cope with an incident. For example, last year following the crash of Alaska Airlines flights 261, Council 66 EAP committee members assisted Alaska’s EAP representatives in assisting their members with the aftermath of this tragedy.

Why EAP Works

·         Up to 30% of workers will suffer an episode of serious depression during their lifetime

·         Nearly 40 million Americans - one in five- suffer from some sort of major mental illness

·         76 million people about 43% of US adults have had some exposure to alcoholism

·         One out of four  Americans could benefit from the services of a professional counselor

·         One out every 100 American men is afflicted with schizophrenia

·         80% of working adults say balancing work, life, relationships and family is their most pressing challenge

·         Work place assaults caused half a million employees to miss an average of 3.5 days of work

·         Domestic violence occur every 15 seconds in the US

Trip Trades Involving Cash

One of the most frequent calls for Professional Standards assistance is regarding trades for cash.  Sometimes cash is posted on a trade and the Flight Attendant will not pay or there is disagreement over the amount of cash posted.  Here are a few suggestions that may help if you are ever involved in a trade for cash dispute. 

If you post a trade for cash:

1.      Pay on time.

2.      Do not bounce checks.

3.      Return your calls and emails.

4.      If you cannot pay, please communicate with the person who worked your trip and work out a payment agreement.  Then pay as agreed.

5.      If entering multiple trades always double check that you have deleted the comments from the last trade entered.  The comment will show on the next trade posted and you may find yourself obligated for cash for that one also.

If you pick up a trade for cash:

1.      Always print the comments section from the trade board.  Some home computers have the capability to do so by hitting keys “control P” at the same time. While using an America West computer follow the procedure in the “Capturing a Screen from Maestro” article in this newsletter.  If you are unable to print the comments screen then print the trip and write exactly what was written in comments on your printout.  Keep copies till paid.

2.      Allow the posting Flight Attendant time to respond and send payment.

3.      Try compassion first.  Occasionally a Flight Attendant will find that they are short of cash.  This can be an embarrassment for him or her.  Graciously offer to take payments.

4.      Personalize what hardships the nonpayment has caused in your life, i.e.; had to pay a sitter, extra eating out, gas money etc.

5.      Don’t give up sometimes persistence, in a professional manner, may work.  Never threaten, harass or intimidate. 

6.      This is not a Grievance matter.

7.      Don’t contact inflight management with disputes over cash trades, these are personal trades and inflight cannot force a Flight Attendant to pay. Your AFA Professional Standards Rep will assist if you as a last resort if you are unable to collect.  The bad news is we are not collectors and cannot make someone pay either.  Good news if the Flight Attendant does pay we won’t charge you a percentage like a collection agency would.

For those Flight Attendants who are using a Mac system:

1. Hold down the Shift key. Continue to hold down this key while depressing the key that is second from the left on the bottom row of the keyboard (I don’t know what the name of this key is). While holding down the Shift key and the second key, depress the F3 key.
2. Mac will automatically save this as Picture 1 (unless there are other Pictures in which case it will be the next sequence number) on the hard drive.
3. Flight Attendants can then print the document and delete it from their hard drive if they do not want these pictures taking up space in their system.

Very rarely there will be someone who for whatever reason will not pay.  Remember that these types of Flight Attendants are few.  Most are great Flight Attendants who will pay on time and deeply appreciate it when their trips are picked up from the board.  

Interested in Becoming an EAP/PS Committee Member?

We are recruiting peer counselors. If you are interested in receiving valuable training and learning skills to help other Flight Attendants, contact Karen Richardson or Rita Nicksic,  MEC Co-Chairpersons, at 480-966-1231 ext. 27 or EAP@afa66.org for the next available training class.