Cast Members Furious With Disney Over Proposed Attendance Policy Change

Cast Members make Disneyland the happy, magical theme Park it is. As Walt Disney said, “You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”

Disneyland Cast Members have undergone tumultuous changes over the past few years due to changes made during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Some even described The Walt Disney Company as a “nightmare to work for” as recently as April 2022.

Related: Disneyland Cast Members Show Theme Park Love

Disneyland has increased block out dates for free Cast Member admission into the Park and expected more out of each Cast Member, as the Park has been severely understaffed since it reopened in 2021.

Now, Disneyland faces new backlash from frustrated Cast Members after Disneyland’s employee Union, Workers United Local 50, released Disneyland’s proposed new attendance policy on Facebook. They wrote:

We’ve met with Disney and reviewed the proposed attendance policy. While we wait for clarification to questions that were raised we wanted to provide members with the main takeaways. Understand, this is just the beginning of the conversation with Disney and we will negotiate with Disney over the impact and request changes be made. Meaning, this may not be the final policy.

-No more points system. Instead attendance infractions will be tracked as total amount of unexcused time of missed work.

–Tardies tracked separately by number of occurrences

– Different amounts of unexcused time/tardies for Full Time, Casual Regular, and Casual Temporary will trigger discipline.

16 hours to trigger for FT, 12 hours for CR, 6 hours for CT

3 tardies to trigger for FT, 2 tardies for CR, 2 tardies for CT.

– Supplementing sick time to not receive an infraction will require equal amount of time be supplemented. For example a 6 hour shift requires 6 hours be supplement.

– FMLA and other applicable leave time will continue to excuse absences.

– No more continued absences only counting as one infraction.

We will post updates as they become available. Message us with any questions or call the office (714 502 0220).

In Solidarity,

Chris Duarte

Local 50 Vice President

Related: Disneyland Union Shares Signs of Holiday Depression

Cast Members quickly voiced anger on social media, saying the new policy could mean a particularly strict leader could fire them if they called out sick for only a few days. @DisneyDragon on Twitter wrote:

This policy is significantly more restrictive, especially if you’re sick. Part timers could be fired for calling out sick after as little as 3 shifts annually under this policy whereas it would be almost 25+ days under the current one

This policy is significantly more restrictive, especially if you’re sick. Part timers could be fired for calling out sick after as little as 3 shifts annually under this policy whereas it would be almost 25+ days under the current one

— Bunny Dragon (@DisneyDragon) May 22, 2022

Related: Disney World’s Largest Union Issues Response to Layoffs

Can’t wait to see what happens with people with chronic illness getting fired for not having the sick hours. I can smell the lawsuits now

When I worked at Disneyland I loved that point system. They only want to get rid of it so they can easily fire people. You’re either a machine for Disney or trash to get rid of.

Disneyland hasn’t released a public statement on the proposed Cast Member attendance policy, and it hasn’t yet been approved. Workers United Local 50 says they’re still negotiating with The Walt Disney Company.

Does this potential policy change impact you? What do you think of the proposed new Cast Member attendance rules? Let us know in the comments.