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Pay for days off

vgmillvgmill 9 Posts
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This is a simple question that gives me a lot of trouble. When an employee takes time of work due to sickness or personal business, can a company require that employee to use accrued vacation time or sick leave time. The issue is....employees want to take the time off without pay in order to save their vacation time. What is your policy?
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  • 6 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • sonnysonny 2,117 Posts
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    We do not allow it. You must exhaust paid time prior to going without. . . for just the reason you mentioned.
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  • NaeNae55NaeNae55 3,243 Posts
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    We also require employees to use accrued time. The only exception (and we just started this) is if the company closes for the day and it is not a holiday. For instance, we have Thanksgiving as a holiday, but not the day after. If the company chooses to close that Friday then we will allow the employee to make the choice of using accrued time or going without pay. This is the only exception, and it is only because we are forcing the issue.

    Good luck!

    Nae
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  • davidsdavids 427 Posts
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    We require employees to exhaust their leave balances before going on leave without pay.
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  • IrieIrie 482 Posts
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    We used to allow employees to take days off without pay to "save" their vacation. I finally talked TPTB into making a policy that employees use PTO prior to taking time off without pay.

    TPTB then realized that absences declined once the employee had no PTO left.

    If an employee is on approved FMLA for themself they do not have to use PTO; they may take time off without pay for FMLA and "save" vacation for later. I still haven't been able to talk management out of this policy.

    To confuse things even more, our disability policy states that employees must substitute PTO for the elimination period if they are out on short-term disability even though FMLA is running concurrently.
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  • TheColTheCol 66 Posts
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    Irie, look closer. My fading brain remembers that Management can require the use of vacation and/or sick time (with appropriate pay) for Family Medical Leave Act absences.
    Thereafter, time off is fully excused but not compensable. Your last paragraph seems to echo this. A general warning is not to let FMLA time be used without clear communication that these days are FMLA days with the requirememt for medical documentation of the event and suchlike.

    The Colonel
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  • Susan in LaSusan in La 107 Posts
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    We have had employees who want to take leave without pay to save their sick or annual leave, but it is not allowed. They are trying to circumvent our policy that when you exhaust sick leave and FMLA and can't come back to work you are removed (dismissed) from your position.
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