Signing Out

Does anyone know where it says FLMs will sign you out unless you are taking leave?

OrangeYOGAMat said:

Does anyone know where it says FLMs will sign you out unless you are taking leave?

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It doesn't. They have the ability to as a courtesy because they're ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the logs, but in the end, it's your responsibility for signing on/off. The procedures are in the 7210.3. See below...

2−2−6. SIGN IN/OUT AND ON/OFF PROCEDURES

The following is applicable to all FAA air traffic facilities, but does not apply to FAA contract facilities.

Cru-X/ART is the official time and attendance system for both signing in/out for a shift and on and off positions, not paper logs nor Common ARTS/ ERAM/NTML/FSS or other Agency or local programs. Facilities may use Common ARTS/ ERAM/NTML/FSS to sign on positions for position preference settings; however, these systems/programs must not be used for official time and attendance nor position times. Duplicate paper logs for sign in/out of the shift and on and off positions must not be utilized during normal daily operations.

a. FAA operations managers−in−charge (OMIC)/ operations supervisor (OS)/supervisory traffic management coordinators (STMC)/national operations managers (NOM)/national traffic management officers (NTMO)/controllers−in−charge (CIC) of the watch are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the personnel log for time and attendance (T&A) recording. T&A information must be entered into and maintained within the ATO Resource Tool (ART) system approved.

1. The facility air traffic manager must ensure that procedures are in place so that operational schedules are entered correctly into ART.

2. Employees must use ART to sign in and out of their shifts.

(a) Sign in for a shift must be accomplished no later than the shift assigned time unless the OS/STMC/NTMO/CIC and/or OMIC has approved leave at the start of the assigned shift. Sign in, using the assigned shift start time, may occur up to 15 minutes before an employee’s assigned shift. Earning of, and signing in for, Time Outside Shift time at the beginning of an assigned shift must receive approval by the OS/STMC/NTMO/CIC or OMIC prior to earning or recording it into Cru−X/ART. NOTE− Shift/Core hour changes must be in accordance with local and national policy. Earning Time Outside Shift Responsibilities 2−2−3 JO 7210.3AA 10/12/17 (overtime, credit hours, etc.) must be approved by the OS/STMC/NTMO/CIC or OMIC prior to entering it into Cru−X/ART or working it.

(b) In situations where it is known in advance that employees will not report to the facility, such as when attending an all day meeting outside the facility, facilities should enter the employee’s shift in the schedule as an Other Duty Code.

(c) Sign out must be accomplished at the end of an employee’s assigned shift. Sign out using the assigned shift end time may be accomplished no earlier than 15 minutes prior to the end of the shift, or no later than 15 minutes after the end of the assigned shift. Any Time Outside Shift at the end of an assigned shift, or leave, must first receive OS/STMC/NTMO/CIC or OMIC approval prior to earning/using and recording such time in Cru X/ART.

3. The supervisor/CIC position relief briefing check list must include:

(a) T&A status,
(b) Other Duties,
(c) Time Outside Shift (TOS) requests/approvals, and
(d) Leave requests/approvals. NOTE− Upon signing on position the OMIC/OS/STMC/NOM/NTMO/CIC assumes full responsibility of all check list items including those identified above.

4. It is the employee’s responsibility to notify the OMIC/OS/STMC/NOM/NTMO/CIC of the watch of any changes to “Other Duty” shifts. For example, an employee is outside of the facility on another duty and requests a day of sick leave.

5. In the event of electronic system failure, scheduled system outage, or facility evacuation, the paper FAA Form 7230−10, “Position Log,” must be used to indicate position responsibility. When the ART system has been restored or the facility reoccupied, the facility must ensure that all data collected with the paper FAA Form 7230−10’s is entered into ART. In instances where the data cannot be entered into ART, the paper FAA Form 7230−10’s must be retained in accordance with document retention guidance.

b. The Cru−X/ART electronic logs must be used to indicate responsibility at all operational positions and for supervisory traffic management coordinator− in−charge (STMCIC), operations supervisor−in− charge (OSIC), traffic management coordinator−in−charge (TMCIC), and CIC functions. It is the responsibility of the relieved controller to enter the correct change of position responsibility time in Cru−X/ART. In situations where there is no relieved controller, such as when opening a position, the person opening the position is responsible for entering the correct position time or notifying the supervisor/STMC/CIC of the position opening time. The supervisor/STMC/NTMO/CIC must then enter that time into Cru−X/ART.

My first facility, everyone signed themselves in/out.
Next facility, most signed themselves in, but the supervisors signed them out. Usually 15 minutes before the go-home time, the supervisor would select everyone on that shift and sign them out all together. A couple people wouldn't even sign themselves in, they'd check in with the supervisor and the supervisor would sign them in.
I liked signing myself out, but if I happened to notice that I was already signed out when I walked by the computer, I'd just go home. Otherwise I stayed until the end of my shift.

We only sign in, never out.

Our SOP covers this, we don’t sign in unless we are flexing or earning credit and we don’t sign out unless we use some type of leave.

16gtiguy said:

Our SOP covers this, we don’t sign in unless we are flexing or earning credit and we don’t sign out unless we use some type of leave.

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This hits the nail on the head. Your local SOP should document their sign on/off procedures. I'd imagine each facilities handles this differently based on size, past practice, etc.

For the OP, if your current facility does not have that, have a discussion about it at your next NATCA meeting and work on amending your SOP. If it ever becomes disciplinary, if it's not covered in your local SOP, it will default to the 7210.3 quoted above.

If you flex, sign in. If you take leave, then sign out.

We sign in and out of Cru Art on our own. Every now and then someone forgets to sign in and they're not on the board for a while. When they finally take a position and someone tries to slide them over they're like, "You're not signed in yet!" and they have to go over and set the time back accordingly; which is legit because they actually were there on time. Some people take advantage of this and show up late and just move the time back anyway, and say they just forgot.

We sign in on our own. Sups sign us out.

DankVectorz said:

We sign in on our own. Sups sign us out.

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Same, unless you take leave then you sign out

RL said:

Same, unless you take leave then you sign out

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Sups sign us out for that too. In the 4 years I've been herE I've never signed myself out.

OrangeYOGAMat said:

Does anyone know where it says FLMs will sign you out unless you are taking leave?

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For the OP and to cap this thread off. I apologize, I was incorrect above. There is a Cru-X/ART MOU dated 3-25-10, which NATCA continued with the slate book via an additional MOU on 7-14-16, both attached. The MOU trumps the 7210.3 quoted above.
Per the Cru-X/ART MOU...

Section 4

"A bargaining unit employee, who reports for his or her scheduled shift on time, will not be required to sign in to the CRU-X/ART system at the start of their scheduled shift. However, an employee who elects to utilize flex time or approved leave at the start of their shift will make the appropriate sign in entries in the system. The bargaining unit employee shall not be required to sign out unless assigned duties as a Controller in Charge. A bargaining unit employee who takes leave during or at the end of the shift must make the appropriate sign out entries in the system."

Interesting! We're forced to sign in/out at my facility, and I don't believe there's anything in our SOP about it. I'll have to bring this up with my local.

Homsar said:

Interesting! We're forced to sign in/out at my facility, and I don't believe there's anything in our SOP about it. I'll have to bring this up with my local.

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Is signing in/out that much of a chore and does it really matter?

You'd be surprised at the drama some people create when someone leaves without signing out, or tries to take a position without signing in. It's more about that than the effort required to do it yourself.

Stinger said:

Is signing in/out that much of a chore and does it really matter?

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It does matter! I want an extra 10% to sign in/out damnit.