Query: One among our staff has been absent and late a number of occasions with out following our call-in necessities. This makes it unattainable to search out protection and her supervisor is understandably pissed off. Yesterday she didn’t present up or contact her supervisor in any respect. This morning, she advised us she couldn’t name in as a result of she had low blood sugar and wanted pressing IV therapy for diabetes. Can we nonetheless self-discipline her for violating the call-in coverage?
Reply: Not so quick! Strictly imposing your call-in coverage underneath these circumstances could lay the groundwork for a declare of interference with depart rights underneath federal or state depart legal guidelines. Usually, supervisors ought to maintain all staff accountable underneath the attendance coverage and situation self-discipline as warranted. Nevertheless, your worker’s clarification for why she couldn’t adjust to the call-in coverage constitutes discover of the necessity for medical depart attributable to a severe well being situation, which triggers sure authorized duties and protections. That is the time to get HR concerned. The attendance coverage violation must take a backseat whilst you overview whether or not her lack of discover was cheap underneath the circumstances and whether or not it was throughout the timeframes of any discover necessities for no matter varieties of protected depart she could also be eligible for. (For instance, the federal Household and Medical Go away Act (FMLA) requires staff who want unforeseeable depart to offer discover as quickly as practicable, whereas some state depart legal guidelines enable discover by the following enterprise day.)
Keep away from the “Unhealthy Man” Function: Prioritize Options Over Self-discipline
Even for those who decide that she may have notified you sooner, you could be higher off to work out a mutually acceptable method for future conditions moderately than disciplining or terminating underneath these circumstances. Even for those who finally win a subsequent lawsuit over interference with protected depart rights, the corporate will nonetheless seem like the unhealthy man for denying depart to a significantly sick worker who had a great purpose for being a no name/no present. The very best course right here is to provoke your depart administration procedures, whereas reminding supervisors and managers to loop in HR on any medical causes for absences. Additionally guarantee they perceive they can’t intervene with or retaliate towards an worker who requests or takes protected depart.
Court docket Guidelines FMLA Declare Can Proceed After Firing Linked to Medical Absence
The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court docket of Appeals lately examined related info and dominated {that a} former worker can proceed with an interference declare underneath the FMLA primarily based on her termination for violating the attendance coverage. The worker missed work and didn’t name in, later explaining that she suffered a severe diabetic episode and was receiving medical therapy for her situation, which prevented her from calling. She had beforehand submitted a health care provider’s be aware and requested FMLA for a similar situation, which the employer denied. The corporate fired the worker for failing to inform her supervisor of the absence as required by the attendance coverage. The corporate maintained that the attendance violation was unrelated to her request for depart. The appeals court docket disagreed, discovering that the worker’s medical situation and the attendance violation have been related. The court docket dominated {that a} cheap jury may decide that the worker notified her employer of the necessity for depart as quickly as doable underneath the circumstances and was entitled to medical depart regardless of the late discover (Huber v. Westar Meals, Inc., 8th Cir, Could 2025).
For those who’re unsure how one can assess whether or not it’s applicable to excuse an worker’s late call-in, or how one can handle a state of affairs involving sudden intermittent medical depart, contact your Vigilant Regulation Group employment legal professional for recommendation. Additionally see the Leaves of Absence part of the Vigilant member web site for sources and steerage on protected federal and state leaves.
