MBTA cuts hundreds from family-leave rolls
The MBTA has slashed hundreds of workers from its family medical leave rolls over an 18-month span, thanks to heightened scrutiny — and a $2.2 million private contract — targeting the oft-abused leave policy.
About 700 fewer T workers were certified under the Family and Medical Leave Act by the end of March compared to 18 months prior, according to T data. The cuts meant that 16 percent of the T’s 6,200-employee workforce were eligible to take unscheduled, and unpaid, days off under FMLA, a drop from 27 percent in the fall of 2015.
The reduction is a “hopeful sign,” according to interim general manager Steve Poftak, who pointed to the hiring of UPMC WorkPartners last fall to a $2.2 million, three-year contract to manage T employee absences and its various leave policies.
But even amid the progress, the T remains largely out of whack with other state agencies. The 16 percent rate is still more than double the rate of FMLA certifications at MassDOT, where 7 percent were eligible at the end of last year. Other state agencies surveyed by the T last year averaged 10 percent certification.
At the Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589, the T’s largest union, 24 percent of its members are still certified. About 45 percent had been in September 2015.
“I think there may be a case to be made that the work is different than a purely administrative agency,” Poftak said of T employees. “But I think it’s something that we continue to look at.”
Data on the reductions were tucked into a 79-page packet T officials released to reporters yesterday touting their various initiatives over the last two years. The FMLA rate has long been eyed by the T as being ripe for reform amid its efforts to slash absenteeism and reduce dropped trips.
The FMLA allows those with a serious illness or the need to take care of a sick relative to take an unscheduled and unpaid day off — with a doctor’s permission — without fear of discipline. But critics have said it’s long been a haven for abuse, with insiders in the past calling it the “Friday-Monday Leave Act” for the number of employees who’d use it to score a long weekend.
“In the past I would describe the T’s efforts around FMLA certification as document collection,” Poftak said. “We only had one or two employees working on that in a (formerly) 6,500-employee workforce. It’s unrealistic to think there’s going to be any kind of rigor in the oversight.”