use of accrued sick leave for children/spouse

[dependable worker]

My employer will terminate any employee exceeding 60 hrs personal/sick time missed from work within your first year of employment.

Employees who have been w/ the company over a year will be terminated should they exceed the 60 hrs in two years in a row.

I was forced to use 4 days during my first 90 day for severe illness with my children (I have six). Accrued sick pay can not be used until after the probationary 90 days.

I have a couple questions regarding the use of the sick leave that I've accrued but can not use without exceeding the 60 hrs. We are given 60 hrs sick time per year to use for ourselves, children, and spouse.

Since I have used 32 hours personal unpaid time this year, I 32 hours of accrued sick leave/pay I am unable to benefit from without being terminated.

Question 1. Is it discrimination that first year employees are subject to termination and not those who have been employeed longer?

Question 2. The employee manual states that an employee exceeding the 60 hrs will be given a unsatisfactory rating and could be terminated if this were to happen two years in a row. The policy of absolute termination has only been verbal or in the form of a written discussion. The policy contradicts the manual. Isn't an employees manual considered a written contract?

Question 3. Does California labor law code 233 protect employees from termination when using accrued sick time for thier children or spouse? Reguardless of policies.

Question 4. Since CA code mandades employers to allow employees to use sick time for thierselves, children and spouse, Could it be considered discrimination that a parent of six children is allowed the same sick/personal time missed as a single co-worker? Especially since the price you pay for using your CA protected leave is termination.

Answers or links to find the answers to any of the questions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[msattorney]

From what you have said, I do not believe that your employer is doing anything illegal. But I would contact the Dept of employment and labor in CA to get the exact regulations about sick leave.

You might talk to the HR dept where you work about the difficulty of having 6 kids and only 60 hours of sick time. Could you have some additional unpaid allowance if you have an emergency with your children? And if you get through 2 years, then it sounds like their policies are more lenient.