Rail Strike Threat Brings New Focus on Work Attendance Policies

The high-profile contract dispute between rail carriers and their employees that nearly shut down the nation’s supply chains has renewed scrutiny on workplace sick leave and attendance policies.

Roughly 125,000 US rail workers were on the verge of walking off the job last month when negotiations between their unions and rail companies soured over the long-running issues of sick leave and attendance policies.

Many rail employees are required to work 12 hours a day and are frequently on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When scheduling time off, rail workers say they often have to make the requests ...