can I be forced to come in on my day off?

[saminalham]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[justalayman]

yes you can

 

[cbg]

Or, to put it another way:

Short of holding a gun to your head, no, you cannot be forced to come in.

However, if you are fired because you do not come in, that will be a legal termination and your only recourse will be to file for unemployment (and keep your fingers crossed that you get it).

The ONLY exception to that would be if you have a legally binding and enforceable contract that expressly states that you cannot be required to come in on your day off.

 

[saminalham]

re: forced to come in on day off

I live in TN.
Had to switch to pc because mobile would not let me actually post properly. Sorry.
I am a PRN employee at a major hospital. My contract states that I am PRN, per diem. The company policy states that I be available to be scheduled for 16 hours per pay period. I have been scheduled for that amount and available for more than double that each pay period since my employment 2.5 years. In addition, I take call rotation in the same quantity as a full time employee. Today, I was sent a text message to my cell phone on my day off stating I had to attend a meeting at 5pm on Tuesday next week. I checked with my child care provider and they are not available that day, at which point I texted my immediate supervisor that I could not attend. She simply texted me back that her boss stated it was mandatory. So, I have a meeting with him tomorrow about this meeting that hasn't been on a schedule for the entire month its been posted. Glad I take a picture of the schedule when it is finalized. I just want to make sure I can't really get fired for not being able to attend, or should I be really hateful and bring my three kids I have no child care for? What do I say if he says too bad I don't have childcare? I can see that happening or I wouldn't be asking. I work for a major nationwide healthcare org. .

 

[cbg]

You CAN be fired if you are unable to attend.

 

[Proserpina]

I live in TN.
Had to switch to pc because mobile would not let me actually post properly. Sorry.
I am a PRN employee at a major hospital. My contract states that I am PRN, per diem. The company policy states that I be available to be scheduled for 16 hours per pay period. I have been scheduled for that amount and available for more than double that each pay period since my employment 2.5 years. In addition, I take call rotation in the same quantity as a full time employee. Today, I was sent a text message to my cell phone on my day off stating I had to attend a meeting at 5pm on Tuesday next week. I checked with my child care provider and they are not available that day, at which point I texted my immediate supervisor that I could not attend. She simply texted me back that her boss stated it was mandatory. So, I have a meeting with him tomorrow about this meeting that hasn't been on a schedule for the entire month its been posted. Glad I take a picture of the schedule when it is finalized. I just want to make sure I can't really get fired for not being able to attend, or should I be really hateful and bring my three kids I have no child care for? What do I say if he says too bad I don't have childcare? I can see that happening or I wouldn't be asking. I work for a major nationwide healthcare org. .

Bringing in the kids would make it certain that you'd no longer have a job. Daycare isn't generally the problem of your employer; but standby for the pros to respond.

 

[justalayman]

it wasn't your phone. It is an ongoing gag the owners of this site have not or cannot fix where the preview button is really a delete button in disguise.



anyway; yes, you can be required to report to work whenever your employer tells you to. Refusing is insubordination and you can be fired or otherwise reprimanded for refusing,

 

[saminalham]

RE you can be fired

Seriously????
Wow! I was under the impression that since my availability was completely used they couldn't force me beyond that.
Very interesting. Per diem doesn't mean what it used to. Thanks for the info. May have to talk to someone local about that.

 

[saminalham]

meeting

BTW others have brought their kids to work when child care was unavailable. All have been witness to it. In fact it is a running joke that one very Christian woman brought her child in the one day that the boss used a cuss word during a meeting and she heard it.

 

[justalayman]

and your employer can fire you for that as well.


express your concerns to your employer and try to work out a resolution. No sense making things uncomfortable from here on out if you can find a solution that everybody is happy with.

 

[saminalham]

and your employer can fire you for that as well.

not sure what that means....Do you mean they can fire her???? Or the boss for cussing??? I will try to work something out. I just know from experience he doesn't seem to give a rats butt what anyone's schedule conflict is even if the schedule changes ten minutes before the fact. I try with three kids to make it work, but with the holiday week, nobody is available that late in the day, since the meeting will likely result in me being out until at least 7:30 pm. Usually, any hours after six are "on call" hours so nobody plans to be there that late, unless they are scheduled on call that day. Hopefully I am just being proactive for no reason and this will resolve when I inform him that my three childcare people are unavailable because of the short notice and holiday week.

 

[justalayman]

and your employer can fire you for that as well.

not sure what that means....Do you mean they can fire her???? Or the boss for cussing??? I will try to work something out. I just know from experience he doesn't seem to give a rats butt what anyone's schedule conflict is even if the schedule changes ten minutes before the fact. I try with three kids to make it work, but with the holiday week, nobody is available that late in the day, since the meeting will likely result in me being out until at least 7:30 pm. Usually, any hours after six are "on call" hours so nobody plans to be there that late, unless they are scheduled on call that day. Hopefully I am just being proactive for no reason and this will resolve when I inform him that my three childcare people are unavailable because of the short notice and holiday week.

I was referring to the bringing the children to work since that was what you considered doing.

 

[ecmst12]

It is legal for them to fire you for refusing to attend the meeting. It is legal for them to fire you for bringing your kids into work with you. It is legal for them to fire your boss for cursing, or not. You can be fired for many, many legal reasons. Now you know better than we do whether you would get in trouble for bringing your kids into work. But the law does not require your employer to be fair or courteous when it comes to scheduling.

 

[saminalham]

Thanks for the info. I guess I will just have to suck it up and take whatever he wants to dish out regarding the meeting. I guess if he makes it clear that disciplinary action will take place if I can't attend, I will have to tell him I will take it above him and write an email to the effect of the issue with my attempts to comply but inability to do so because of the short notice. Don't know what else to do. I have never been written up, seldom tardy, and out three times in 2.5 years for illness. Good employment record, so hopefully they will work with me.

 

[Proserpina]

Thanks for the info. I guess I will just have to suck it up and take whatever he wants to dish out regarding the meeting. I guess if he makes it clear that disciplinary action will take place if I can't attend, I will have to tell him I will take it above him and write an email to the effect of the issue with my attempts to comply but inability to do so because of the short notice. Don't know what else to do. I have never been written up, seldom tardy, and out three times in 2.5 years for illness. Good employment record, so hopefully they will work with me.

That's not going to matter if you're fired.

I know it sounds unfair to you, but they're doing nothing illegal and I'm not even convinced they'd read the email, let alone actually act upon it.