sick time from work

[crjamoore]

What is the name of your state? Kansas
I have worked for the same company for 7 years. I have 1 week of vacation and 4 sick days for one year time span. This past Wednesday and Thursday my 7 month old son got RSV and I had to take off of work to stay home with him. (Daycare will not take a sick kid . . . of course. Plus, my wife has taken off the majority of her sick time this year with our other two kids being sick alot this year.) So I missed work from 8 am to 2 pm on Wednesday and Thursday. I went immediately back to work once my wife arrived home from work at 2 pm. I got to work today and was asked by the "rude" boss if I went to the doctor since I missed work. I told him that it was not me that it was my infant son that I had to be home with. He looked straight at me and told me that he hoped I realized that I would not be getting paid for this time because his "printed guide lines" state that sick time must be taken only if I am sick not a family member. What! Who is suspose to stay home with the kids each time? The wife no matter what! I need help. I support the family with my income and we are going to be hurting money wise with a loss of these hours these past two days. Please help!

 

[pattytx]

It's a tough break, especially for dual income families, but the employer does have the right to limit sick pay to the sickness of the employee only. Many employers are going away from that now to a Paid Time Off Policy, kind of like a "no-fault absence" policy, but your employer seems to not have done that. Since sick pay is not a legally required benefit in any state, the employer can structure the plan the way he wants.

It appears you may have to come up with a 3rd or 4th alternative if you cannot do without your full paychecks. Having said all this, 1 week vacation and 4 days sick is pathethic for a 7-year employee, though, unfortunately, it is probably not all that rare for a small employer, which I assume yours is.

Good Luck.

 

[cbg]

Patty's answer is correct assuming that you are a non-exempt employee. A non-exempt employee does not have to be paid for any time he does not actually work, and it is the employer's opt when sick pay can be used.

If you are an exempt employee, if you work any part of the day you have to be paid for the full day. They CAN deduct part of that time from sick pay, or vacation time if your boss doesn't want to allow the use of sick time for family members, but your pay, the actual dollars in your check, cannot be docked in partial day increments unless FMLA applies, and in the circumstances you describe it does not.