to terminate or not

lane · March 2003

We are a small group of retail stores. Recently the opening supervisor at one of the stores did not arrive and the store did not open. No other employee was notified. Later we find out that the supervisor had gone to the emergency room the previous night with a non life threatening illness. The store remained closed for the entire day - it was a Sunday and the business day was short. The mall where the store is located may fine the company for the store not opening. There are two attendance issues in the employee's file. The employee is currently out sick. Should this employee be terminated?

Trinity · March 2003

What does your attendance policy mandate? Do you have a requirement that requires an employee to contact someone else on the chain if they are unable to attend? In this case, I would not necessarily hold the absence due to sickness against her, especially if she has a doc. note, but I would discipline for not calling someone, if she was able to get to a phone with a non-life threatening disease..
And if you don't have a policy specifying someone to call in case of a situation like this, I would write one, especially if you have small branches depending on one person to open.

lane · March 2003

Employee handbook does state that a supervisor must be notified immediately if an employee is unable to report to work. Also states that excessive tardiness and or absences will be considered grounds for dismissal. Previous discussions and documentation have taken place regarding this employees attendance record.

jimlegal · March 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-18-03 AT 08:15AM (CST)[/font][p]From your post it seems that your policy covers this issue. Of course you have followed the disciplinary steps outlined in your policy. Now to the decision. Having had employees who presented continous absence problems, we have taken the hard line. If you violate our policy, you are terminated!

jimlegal · March 2003

Agree with Trinity. At a minimum I would write this matter up and place in the employees file. If you don't have a written "Absence Control Policy", or some other titled policy outlining procedures when this type of situation arises, then I would be very cautious about termination. Hope you find a resolution.

Don D · March 2003

If the employee spent the night at the hospital and went home the next morning, that's FMLA. If they just breezed through the ER to make a record of visit, that's something else. In the absence of 10 broken fingers, they could have dialed.

Balloonman · March 2003

A supervisor who failed to notify someone that they would not be able to open the store, then the store went unopened the whole day. Unless they were admitted and unconcious I would terminate. I would not even address the attendance issue. I would terminate for failing to notify their supervisor so that arrangements could be made for the store to open.
My $0.02 worth.
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DJ The Balloonman

to terminate or not

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