Hardships

[Lvl8twr]

DFW is easy, I’ve heard DEN is as well.

If you get scheduled overtime, just bang. 12 pay compounds from the day you certify, and you may never have that chance again. It wouldn't hurt to put a statement in your packet expressing your facility desires. Don’t know if anyone would care, but it can’t hurt.

Tell that to all the people who thought the same and washed out of DFW.

 

[COWTOWN]

Tell that to the one person who thought the same and washed out of DFW.

Fixed for accuracy.

 

[BigEggplant]

Tell that to all the people who thought the same and washed out of DFW.

I have. I didn’t say you don‘t have to work hard or show some initiative. But it’s not a difficult facility. Busy does not equal difficult.

Fixed for accuracy.

Thanks 😂

 

[Lvl8twr]

Fixed for accuracy.

Over what time frame?

 

[Here4thedrama]

Since NCEPT is not happening for the 4th quarter, and facilities aren't moving people out (or IN potentially/presumably with training backlog).... what if the facility you want/need to hardship to is over 100% because they can't let people go now?
I say want/need because there are 4 facilities in the area that would work but one is a level 12 radar and the rest are low level towers that are full/100%+. The only one that is below 100% is the 12 radar and would prefer to work tower. The towers would normally be a revolving door and right on the cusp of 100%, consistently losing/gaining, but now everything is stopped.

And I had always heard 120%, though 100% makes sense too, where is this written? Something we peons don't have access to?

It may be some rule..it gets passed around a lot, but like everything in the FAA there’s always gray areas. I’ve seen several people in the last 2 years get hardships approved and the receiving facility was over 100%. It’s all about who you know and who’s fighting for you really. If you want a location(s) you can fight for with the right NATCA members and/or managers behind you. If they think your hardship is BS it may be harder..but honestly I even saw some pretty questionable ones that really didn’t fit in the “3 reasons” even get approved to facilities over 100%.

 

[JNev]

If you get a hardship approved to care for a family member and then between the time it’s approved and the time you actually transfer that person dies, do you still get to transfer?

 

[Bravo Delta]

If you get a hardship approved to care for a family member and then between the time it’s approved and the time you actually transfer that person dies, do you still get to transfer?

Yes, if it is already approved, they don't follow up in the process to check if they are still alive.

 

[Bravo Delta]

If you get a hardship approved to care for a family member and then between the time it’s approved and the time you actually transfer that person dies, do you still get to transfer?

Also, you can cancel your hardship until you report. If you didn't want to move.

 

[JNev]

Also, you can cancel your hardship until you report. If you didn't want to move.

Not me thankfully, but good info

 

[Cowboy]

How long does it take from being approved to arriving at the new facility?

 

[Mike Kilo]

How long does it take from being approved to arriving at the new facility?

As early as the next pay period.

 

[COWTOWN]

Over what time frame?

3 years.

 

[CoffeeIV]

If your ATM tries to deny your hardship even if it falls in the 3 categories, does it still go above them or is filing a grievance the only thing to potentially help? My rep and regional hardship guy say I have a sound case but my ATM seems to be dragging this out.

My ATM has already gone past their 14 day window and still hasn't said yes or no. They took over the time allotted for a previous controller as well.

 

[SharkBait]

If your ATM tries to deny your hardship even if it falls in the 3 categories, does it still go above them or is filing a grievance the only thing to potentially help? My rep and regional hardship guy say I have a sound case but my ATM seems to be dragging this out.

My ATM has already gone past their 14 day window and still hasn't said yes or no. They took over the time allotted for a previous controller as well.

An old military trick, I would send them an email with a read receipt saying that you sent them your hardship on XX/XX/XXXX date and havent heard anything back, so you wanted to check on it since the CBA states that they have 2 weeks to make a decision and 1 week to forward it. If they are missing anything to please let you know. Also CC your FACREP and BCC your personal email. Next week send another and reference the first email, and move up from there.

Maybe even copy and paste from the CBA the info, more than likely they just forgot as times are busy for management. Always go the more polite and cautious approach first.

 

[Spoony90]

If your ATM tries to deny your hardship even if it falls in the 3 categories, does it still go above them or is filing a grievance the only thing to potentially help? My rep and regional hardship guy say I have a sound case but my ATM seems to be dragging this out.

My ATM has already gone past their 14 day window and still hasn't said yes or no. They took over the time allotted for a previous controller as well.

It still goes up. But be careful. My ATM “denied” mine and my hardship didn’t go through cause of her BS statement that she wrote. I guess being divorced and the kids being out of state doesn’t count and I have to be separated from them indefinitely 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[CoffeeIV]

It still goes up. But be careful. My ATM “denied” mine and my hardship didn’t go through cause of her BS statement that she wrote. I guess being divorced and the kids being out of state doesn’t count and I have to be separated from them indefinitely 🤷🏻‍♂️

Mine is trying to deny because she believes we need to have power of attorney for the parent for a non-mental illness even though a doctor already wrote a letter saying my wife needed to care for the parent.

 

[Alpha_bravo2]

Mine is trying to deny because she believes we need to have power of attorney for the parent for a non-mental illness even though a doctor already wrote a letter saying my wife needed to care for the parent.

Your ATMs job is to just decide if it falls in one of the three categories, it annoys the piss out of me when they try to be a lawyer, or Dr, when they look at hardships. I'd grieve that one if she denies it.

 

[CoffeeIV]

So my ATM did not concur with my hardship but my union rep did. I'm considering filing a grievance since it not only took her about 25 days to finally do anything but there is no reason given as to why she denied it (not sure if that's required).

Would filing a grievance even do anything? My local rep made the comment that she could just deny it at the local level if I even file one. Never actually submitted one and the couple people I talked to never have either. Also, does something like that look bad on you later on if you did try to get picked up somewhere?

 

[Alpha_bravo2]

So my ATM did not concur with my hardship but my union rep did. I'm considering filing a grievance since it not only took her about 25 days to finally do anything but there is no reason given as to why she denied it (not sure if that's required).

Would filing a grievance even do anything? My local rep made the comment that she could just deny it at the local level if I even file one. Never actually submitted one and the couple people I talked to never have either. Also, does something like that look bad on you later on if you did try to get picked up somewhere?

Even though she denied it I would still tell your rep to push it up on his end to the regional hardship rep, get your RVP involved if you have to.
I'm not sure about filling a grievance, but I believe your Facrep could file one on your behalf, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[BigEggplant]

So my ATM did not concur with my hardship but my union rep did. I'm considering filing a grievance since it not only took her about 25 days to finally do anything but there is no reason given as to why she denied it (not sure if that's required).

Would filing a grievance even do anything? My local rep made the comment that she could just deny it at the local level if I even file one. Never actually submitted one and the couple people I talked to never have either. Also, does something like that look bad on you later on if you did try to get picked up somewhere?

If you believe the contract was violated, get your rep to help you file a grievance.

your ATM has to report that up their chain and they will have a whole separate labor relations FAA person breathing down their neck.

even if it’s denied at the local level, your rep can elevate it above your managers head. If you‘re just grieving the timeline then its an easy win but no clear remedy. If you are grieving the timeline AND the result of the hardship request, you can ask for the remedy to be for Your hardship to be handled by the ARVP/ GM / district level since your manager is not treating your request with good faith.

Many people are afraid to file a grievance but they serve a very valuable purpose, to make sure that the FAA follows the contract. You can still be very pleasant to the manager and tell them you respectfully disagree with their decision and timeline and than hand them the grievance and make them sign the reciept.

TLDR the more grievances you file the faster management will get you out of your facility.