THIS list drove bus drivers up the wall. It showed how many medical certificates (MCs) they had submitted for sick leave.
It was put up on the staff notice board at the Yio Chu Kang interchange
And it was apparently meant to shame the 'MC kings'.
But some felt such information was private and the list exerted unnecessary pressure on them.
Earlier this month, when The New Paper alerted SBS Transit about this 'shame list', its management ordered supervisors to remove the list immediately.
ANNOYED
'This is not condoned by the Group and is not HR policy,' said SBS Transit corporate communications vice-president Tammy Tan.
'It was done at the discretion of the manager in-charge and has since been stopped.'
The list ranked 97 drivers in the 'Ang Mo Kio Route Group' based on the number of days they were on MC.
With more than 5,000 bus drivers in SBS Transit, sick leave is not uncommon.
But the frequency of some names so irked one manager at Yio Chu Kang interchange that he put up the 'High MC BC (Bus Captain) Monitoring list'.
According to one bus driver, several copies of the same list were also found at the Ang Mo Kio Interchange.
The list showed the bus drivers' MCs submitted every year since 2004.
There was also a monthly breakdown of MCs for the first three months of 2008.
This year's 'MC King' topped the list with 15 days out of action.
Bus drivers ranked 77th to 97th had not submitted any MCs this year.
Ms Tan sought to put the incident in perspective.
Referring to its operations, she said the MC average of 4.4 days a year among bus drivers in SBS Transit 'is not a problem and is manageable'.
Indeed, it seems to be lower than the national average.
According to a 2006 Ministry of Manpower study, among Singapore workers who took outpatient sick leave in 2005, the average number of days taken for the year was 4.5.
But, in the case of the list put up at the interchange, the figures were mostly higher.
And their average number of MCs submitted in a year more than doubled from 5.4 days in 2004 to 12.8 days last year.
Up till the end of March this year, each driver on the list had already averaged 3.3 days of medical leave.
In an e-mail to The New Paper, one bus driver said employees get 'one demerit point for every medical leave taken (sic)'. The penalty, it is understood, is applied across the board to SBS Transit's 5,200 bus drivers - even if the number of MCs fall within the 14-day sick leave entitlement per year.
Earlier this month, 34 bus drivers from various interchanges spoke to The New Paper individually. As their contracts forbid them from speaking to the media, their real names have been withheld.
The drivers said they get points in various ways. It is eight demerit points if they drive a bus into the interchange five or more minutes early, and usually three merit points if they confiscate an invalid ez-link card.
They usually earn half a merit point when they receive a passenger's commendation.
POORER PERFORMANCE
They claimed that each day a driver is on sick leave is reflected in his balance sheet of merit and de-merit points.
The total number of points eventually decides the performance bonus he earns in a particular year.
For example, one driver, David, was sick for four working days over the whole of last year.
Based on figures SBS provided, he falls below the company average of 4.4 days MC a year.
But David got four demerit points in his final-year performance report.
When asked for a response, Ms Tan said: 'Bus captains with excessive MCs are likely to receive poorer performance ratings compared to those with fewer MCs, all things else remaining the same.'
Bus driver John, who has been with the company for 14 years, claimed those who hit eight MCs a year are sent for counselling.
Those who reach their annual entitlement of 14 MCs can get their 15th approved only if they see a doctor from one of two recommended clinics, he claimed.
Ms Tan said SBS is mindful not to be clinical in its approach to the treatment of drivers.
Asked if the penalty could encourage sick drivers to turn up for work, SBS said the system was not meant to compromise passenger safety.
Ms Tan wrote: 'Indeed, the health of our bus captains is of paramount importance to us.
'Especially since they are single-handedly responsible for the safety of their passengers and other road users.
'SBS provides heavily subsidised medical care and free annual health screenings at the interchanges to make it easier for drivers to go for checks.
'Drivers on long medical leave are required to be certified fit before being allowed back on the roads.
'We also work closely with the National Transport Workers' Union (NTWU) to ensure that bus captains eat healthy (food).'
A statement from NTWU said: 'The job of a bus captain is indeed demanding, some of them having to wake up at 3.30am in the morning to get to a bus park by 4.30am.
'They have to deal with traffic conditions and other road users, like taxis and cars and cyclists, as well as pedestrians.'
SMRT, another major bus operator with some 1,700 drivers, said it also has a merit-demerit point system.
But apparently it does not give demerit points to drivers who fall ill.
Its spokesman said bus drivers 'may be given demerit points due to disciplinary issues such as being absent without a valid reason, being caught flouting traffic rules like speeding and beating the red light'.
In labour-intensive industries like public transport, that are subject to service standards, it might not be easy to balance work discipline with staff welfare.
But, as one bus interchange supervisor learnt the hard way, a shame list is not a good idea.
Got a view about how to deal with 'MC kings' at a workplace while helping those genuinely sick?
