Holiday pay before/after sick

Ki

Our policy reads:

"Employees must have worked (or used an approved vaation or personal day) on his/her last regularly scheduled work day immediately before the holiday AND their first regularly schedule work day following the holiday in order to be paid for the holiday."

We found this to be harsh on someone who is truly sick. So I proposed adding...

"An employee that used a sick day on the regularly schedule work day before or after a holiday must provide a doctor's excuse in order to be paid for the holiday."

But my directors found this to still be harsh, because not every illness needs a doctor's appointment. So it's still punishing a truly sick employee who doesn't need to visit the doctor.

95% of the time, sick/holiday pay is not abused, but its those certain few employees who really abuse it. They'll claim to be sick right before a holiday, at a time when we are already understaffed because holiday time is a natural time for some employees to use approved vacation time.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I can't seem to please the directors on this issue.

ACU Frank

Go back to the one you had before.

Holiday pay is a reward, not an entitlement. If you have to think about it as an attendance award, then so be it. That's how we play.

Dutch2

We basically have the same ploicy as you. Ee must work their full scheduled day the day before and day after the holiday in order to receive holiday pay. The ee can use sick pay to make up the time missed, if they were sick. Or they can use vacation pay to make up the time they missed. We do not have any exceptions to this policy such as if they were under a doc's care. This "issue" will come up every year during the period of Thanksgiving to New Years and then odds are will not hear about it again until the same time next year.

njjel

so what i am hearing is that if an ee missed the day before or after a holiday AND they have time in their sick bank, you allow them to use that time and pay them for the holiday?

Dutch2

Yep.. they can use sick time to make up the holiday pay they missed if they were sick. If they were not sick they can use vacation pay to make up the missed time.

Catbert46

I had a similar policy. If an employee called in sick the day before or after a holiday, they would not receive holiday pay unless they had a doctor's note. I don't think it creates an undue hardship and most employee's had no problem following it. We had about 350 emps in a DC enviroment.

HRinVA

Our policy reads that you must work or be on paid leave the day before and the day after the holiday. So if you think someone is legitimately sick, you can allow them to use sick leave and/or require a doctor's note, as allowable under our sick leave policy.

If someone has abused their leave and doesn't have enough, they get hit hard b/c they don't get paid for the holiday, putting them into a leave without pay for the day, which also means that they do not earn an annual (vacation) leave accrual for that pay period.

Nat

We have the same policy and also allow the employee to bring a Dr.'s note. Harsh or not, if they want to be paid for the holiday they produce the note. I am amazed at how many lose the holiday where I work. You might ask the directors what they want since you can't seem to please them. You might remind them though that sometimes if you give an inch they take a yard. Been there, done that!