Coworker not being allowed time off after house burned down

[jwathas]

Hi everyone,

I hope I am posting this in the right place. I have a question for a friend/coworker. We work as shift supervisors for a medical transcription company and we work from home (telecommute), but we are W2 employees with full benefits. A couple of months ago, my coworker's house burned down. She lost literally everything she owned. All she was left with were the clothes she was wearing and her cell phone. Thankfully, no one was home at the time, so no one was injured or killed, but like I said, she lost everything. Nothing could be salvaged. Since then, she has been living out of a very small trailer on her property and working in an even smaller, unheated shed, both of which were loaned to her by a friend. One day a couple of weeks ago, it got down to 20 degrees where she lives and she had no heat in her shed (office). She asked our manager if she could take the day off to arrange to have a propane tank set up to heat her work space. They would not give her the day off. She even went above our manager's head and went directly to the director of the company and she wouldn't even return her email or phone call, so she got stuck working in her freezing cold shed and had to go into her car to get warmed up because it was so incredibly cold. Her insurance company finally paid for her to get a brand new mobile home and she has had several workers at her house for the entire past week or so working on removing what is left of her old house so that the new mobile home could be delivered to her property. Even though she has several workers there, there are several things that she is responsible for doing and her new mobile home can't be delivered until she gets them done. She has had to keep postponing the delivery of her new mobile home because she can't get any time off of work to get anything done. This past week, she called HR to request a brief leave of absence so that she can get everything in order and get her new home delivered so she can get out of this tiny trailer that she's been living out of and the shed that she has been working in and into an actual home with a real office setup. She left a voice mail for HR, but HR never called her back. Instead, the director of the company called her back and said that she would not be allowed to take any time off at all, not one single day.

Here's my first question: Isn't it a violation of her confidentiality for human resources to give this type of information to other people in the company that have nothing to do with HR without the employee's permission?

Secondly, doesn't HR legally have to handle any requests for a leave of absence, not pass it off to the director of the company?

I am absolutely floored at the way the are treating her. She has been an EXTREMELY loyal employee for 6 years and has done everything for this company. She even works a lot for free off the clock outside of her normal schedule and has never been paid a single dime of overtime (a whole other issue). This woman NEVER asks for time off and the one time she does, they treat her like this. Even after her entire house burned down, she was back to work within a week. That was her first concern, getting back to work ASAP. She is afraid to report them to the labor board or anyone else for fear of getting fired. I know that she legally can't be fired for reporting this and it's making me so mad to see her treated this way. Does anyone know what rights she may have regarding getting time off so that she can have her new home delivered and get settled in? This poor woman has been living in this tiny little trailer and working out of a tiny, unheated shed for 2 months. I'm not sure if FMLA would apply in this situation since it isn't medical-related, but there has to be something that gives her the right for some time off given the situation. She's not even asking for that much time off, probably just a week or two. If anyone has any advice that I could pass onto her, I'd greatly appreciate it! Thankfully, I just got myself a new job and am getting away from this horrid company, and I know my friend is now on the job search as well after the way they've been treating her!

 

[Zigner]

1: No
2: No

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

She should arrange for someone else to handle it, apply for vacation time or do it on her day off.

 

[jwathas]

She should arrange for someone else to handle it, apply for vacation time or do it on her day off.

Ok, but she doesn't have anyone else to do it for her and they're not letting her take ANY time off, either vacation or leave of absence. She already tried to get both and it's not happening either way. THEY WON'T GIVE HER ANY TIME OFF WHATSOEVER. They wouldn't even give her ONE day off when she had no heat in the shed that is serving as her office space and she could literally see her breath in there. She is not married and lives alone with no one to help her, so I don't know what she can be expected to do, and she needs more than just her 2 days off to get this stuff done. This is beyond cruelty. She lost her home and everything in it. We're pretty sure that the only reason they won't give her the time off is because they don't want to have to pay someone else to fill in for her. This company has broken many labor laws recently, but I won't get into those here. She has to have at least some rights to time off whether it's paid or unpaid in this situation. I'm just floored by all of this.

 

[cbg]

Legally, they do not have to give her any time off whatsoever. It would certainly be compassionate of them to do so under the circumstance, but LEGALLY, they have no obligation to do so.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, she should easily be able to afford a cheap apartment while it gets resolved.

 

[commentator]

I must ask, just for the sake of correctness, what state are you located in? As long as you're in the U.S. this is pretty general.

You say this company has violated many labor laws lately. I doubt it, since the only labor laws that apply are (in most states)that they must pay you at least the
minimum wage for hours you work, and that you are not required to work in unsafe conditions. Most people do labor under the delusion that they have a lot more rights and privileges in the workplace than they do. But that doesn't mean it's true.
Right to time off due to personal (non health related) hardship? None.

If she called the "labor board" they'd tell her they deal only with union issues. They might, however, give her some general information about her rights, which are that she has the right to quit. The company has the right to fire her. Even though you may think this whole thing is "inhuman" and very cruel, there is no labor law anywhere that requires your co worker be treated in a fair or humane way. They could have fired her because her house burned. end of story. She probably would have been able to collect unemployment benefits while looking for another job, but that was all. She'd have no appeal, no complaint against them for violation of any labor laws.

If they fire her for calling the labor board (which they shouldn't know about, unless she tells them) or fire her for talking to HR and asking for time off, or for complaining about how she has been treated, there's still no violation of labor laws. There are no "whistleblower protections" for employees in these circumstances.

She might be able to get paid for hours she worked, or overtime she was not paid, they'd come in and do a company wide examination of the practices and record keeping of the company. They wouldn't, as I continue to say, tell the company who called in the complaint. They very well might think it was you, her indignant friend. But any company that is not paying appropriate overtime, etc, should be aware they are subject to having people complain about them, and may be audited at any time. Depending on what state you are in, this might be done at the state level, or the Federal level.

The EEOC is interested in work places and firings only if she was fired or treated unfairly due to demonstrated documented harassment due to her race, age, sex, religious affiliation, etc. which is not going to be there.

In the United States today, in our current workforce situation, companies are in business to make a profit. They are not required to treat their employees any certain way, including sympathetically, and are allowed to do whatever it takes to make themselves profitable, up to and including the harsh dealings with any employee who is showing any signs of not being 100% concentrated on making them profits, even one who has suffered great personal trials. If they don't want to have to hire a person to do her work while she's off and she forces them to do this, they can fire her . Legally. Your and her alternatives are to find another company where you are treated better, or work, be paid and endure however this company wants to treat you.

incidentally, NO employee, ever, should "Work off the clock" for free for any employer. It is a very very stupid thing to do. And as she has discovered, it is not appreciated, it is not rewarded, it's just proof to them that you're a dumb person who'd work for free expecting a pat on the head.

 

[swalsh411]

It sounds like your friend let her job walk all over her thinking it would buy her some goodwill when in reality the exact opposite happens. She is seen as somebody who can be taken advantage of without consequence because she is worried so much about losing her job. I feel sorry for her, but it's in many ways her own fault for allowing this to happen. She should never work for free ever again.

 

[Just Blue]

Hi everyone,

I hope I am posting this in the right place. I have a question for a friend/coworker. We work as shift supervisors for a medical transcription company and we work from home (telecommute), but we are W2 employees with full benefits. A couple of months ago, my coworker's house burned down. She lost literally everything she owned. All she was left with were the clothes she was wearing and her cell phone. Thankfully, no one was home at the time, so no one was injured or killed, but like I said, she lost everything. Nothing could be salvaged. Since then, she has been living out of a very small trailer on her property and working in an even smaller, unheated shed, both of which were loaned to her by a friend. One day a couple of weeks ago, it got down to 20 degrees where she lives and she had no heat in her shed (office). She asked our manager if she could take the day off to arrange to have a propane tank set up to heat her work space. They would not give her the day off. She even went above our manager's head and went directly to the director of the company and she wouldn't even return her email or phone call, so she got stuck working in her freezing cold shed and had to go into her car to get warmed up because it was so incredibly cold. Her insurance company finally paid for her to get a brand new mobile home and she has had several workers at her house for the entire past week or so working on removing what is left of her old house so that the new mobile home could be delivered to her property. Even though she has several workers there, there are several things that she is responsible for doing and her new mobile home can't be delivered until she gets them done. She has had to keep postponing the delivery of her new mobile home because she can't get any time off of work to get anything done. This past week, she called HR to request a brief leave of absence so that she can get everything in order and get her new home delivered so she can get out of this tiny trailer that she's been living out of and the shed that she has been working in and into an actual home with a real office setup. She left a voice mail for HR, but HR never called her back. Instead, the director of the company called her back and said that she would not be allowed to take any time off at all, not one single day.

Here's my first question: Isn't it a violation of her confidentiality for human resources to give this type of information to other people in the company that have nothing to do with HR without the employee's permission?

Secondly, doesn't HR legally have to handle any requests for a leave of absence, not pass it off to the director of the company?

I am absolutely floored at the way the are treating her. She has been an EXTREMELY loyal employee for 6 years and has done everything for this company. She even works a lot for free off the clock outside of her normal schedule and has never been paid a single dime of overtime (a whole other issue). This woman NEVER asks for time off and the one time she does, they treat her like this. Even after her entire house burned down, she was back to work within a week. That was her first concern, getting back to work ASAP. She is afraid to report them to the labor board or anyone else for fear of getting fired. I know that she legally can't be fired for reporting this and it's making me so mad to see her treated this way. Does anyone know what rights she may have regarding getting time off so that she can have her new home delivered and get settled in? This poor woman has been living in this tiny little trailer and working out of a tiny, unheated shed for 2 months. I'm not sure if FMLA would apply in this situation since it isn't medical-related, but there has to be something that gives her the right for some time off given the situation. She's not even asking for that much time off, probably just a week or two. If anyone has any advice that I could pass onto her, I'd greatly appreciate it! Thankfully, I just got myself a new job and am getting away from this horrid company, and I know my friend is now on the job search as well after the way they've been treating her!

US Law Only.

 

[eerelations]

US Law Only.

OP references FMLA in one of her posts, which leads me to believe she's in the US.

However OP, if you're not in the US, please note that FMLA applies only to people living and working legally in the US. And if you happen to be in Canada, let me know as there are some things in Canada that may be helpful.

 

[jwathas]

OP references FMLA in one of her posts, which leads me to believe she's in the US.

However OP, if you're not in the US, please note that FMLA applies only to people living and working legally in the US. And if you happen to be in Canada, let me know as there are some things in Canada that may be helpful.

Yes, we are all located in the US; however, we are all in different states since we work from home.

 

[jwathas]

You say this company has violated many labor laws lately. I doubt it.

How about not being allowed to take breaks when we are the only supervisor on duty and being threatened with write ups if we miss a phone call from a client or employee if we need to take a bathroom break? Also, we are all scheduled to work 8.5 hours, and that extra half an hour is supposed to be used as a break; however, when we are the only one working (which happens a few times a week), we are not allowed to take that half-hour break, nor are we paid overtime for working that extra half-hour. I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

Also, If we end up working more than 40 hours in a week because of something that we need to get done that runs past the time our shift is supposed to end, we're not allowed to put that on our time sheets because they don't want to pay any overtime. Just a few weeks ago, I had worked 3 hours of overtime because of things that I was required to finish, which took extra time, but they insisted that it be done no matter how long it took. In fact, I would have either been written up or threatened with a write up if I didn't finish it and just left it for the next shift supervisor to take care of. I then received an email from the payroll department telling me that I needed to adjust my time sheet to reflect only 40 hours, not the full 43 hours that I actually worked. I'm fairly sure that's it's illegal to require employees to "lie" on their time sheet just so that they don't have to pay that employee even the slightest amount of overtime.

 

[cbg]

No breaks are required by Federal law. Federal law has rules about how breaks must be handled IF the employer chooses to offer them, but the employer is not obligated to offer them. Some states require breaks. Not all do, and of those that do, the rules vary. You will have to identify the state your friend works in if you want information about her state's break laws.

Only three states require overtime for working more than 8 hours in a day. NO state requires that overtime be calculated on how much you are paid for, ONLY one the time you actually work.

If, however, you WORK (not, are paid for, but WORK) more than 40 hours a week and are not paid overtime for it, then yes, that is a violation of wage and hour laws.

 

[jwathas]

No breaks are required by Federal law. Federal law has rules about how breaks must be handled IF the employer chooses to offer them, but the employer is not obligated to offer them. Some states require breaks. Not all do, and of those that do, the rules vary. You will have to identify the state your friend works in if you want information about her state's break laws.

Only three states require overtime for working more than 8 hours in a day. NO state requires that overtime be calculated on how much you are paid for, ONLY one the time you actually work.

If, however, you WORK (not, are paid for, but WORK) more than 40 hours a week and are not paid overtime for it, then yes, that is a violation of wage and hour laws.

Yes, as supervisors, we almost always work more than 40 hours a week and none of us have paid one single dime of overtime. Since some days they don't allow us one single break, they need to be paying us overtime for working 8.5 hours a day instead of 8 like the rest of the employees.

 

[cbg]

Not in 47 states, they don't.