Speaker: Hayley Brewer, National Health Chair
What work do you perform at the Union?
Hayley Brewer: Hi, I'm Hailey Brewer, your APFA National Health chair. The APFA Health Department has two major functions. The first and most vital is assisting the membership. Each day, the health department has a rep on duty who responds to the emails, calls and texts from the membership. The scope of inquiries can be relatively complex as APFA Health covers a wide range of topics. We answer questions about your American benefits, including your major medical coverage, spending accounts, added benefits, disability, COBRA, and more. We also field lots of questions about taking time off of work and what that looks like for each individual's needs. We're generally answering questions about FMLA versus medical leave, how to facilitate the request for that time off, the pay scheduling, vacation components while away, and your eventual return to work. Another leave type that we assist flight attendants with is maternity or paternity leave. Maternity is the most complex leave type that flight attendants have due to the variance of each stage of pregnancy and postpartum. Generally, we're advising flights on their rights and responsibilities of that leave from conception to birth and eventual return to work. We also assist items with state related leave questions and how those may intersect with other leave types. Another noteworthy topic in the APFA Health Department is the APFA sponsored supplemental benefits. The APFA Health department facilitates coverage with the carriers and answers some policy and claim related questions for the members or policyholders. The other major function performed is advocating for the membership and impacting change to poor policy and process with American. While the reps are assisting the membership and keeping me privy to any issues taking place, it's my job to fight for the progress and resolution with management on individual cases and widespread issues.
