using sick time - how to count

[pippyp]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

I am pregnant and have had to take two weeks off of work when the doctor put me on temporary bed rest. I have a letter from the doctor indicating this to be true. With a previous employer, when a doctor's note was presented, personnel were charged with only one day off instead of all of the days taken. I have been told this is a labor regulation...can anyone verify or prove this to be untrue?

If a person is indeed charged with all of the days off, and consequently runs out of time off, what can an employer do when it is medically necessary to take the time off?

 

[cbg]

Nothing in the law says that an employer has to count all days taken at one time as only one day off. Whoever told you that doesn't understand the regulations. While many employers will count by "instances" instead of days, it's entirely the employer's opt whether to do so or not.

What an employer can do when an employee runs out of paid time off depends on whether or not the employee's condition qualifies them for FMLA or a state equivalent (assuming that both the employer and the employee qualify as well). A qualifying employee of an qualifying employer with a qualifying condition is entitled to up to 12 weeks of protected leave. So the employee would continue to receive unpaid time until the 12 weeks are up.

If FMLA does not apply or when FMLA expires, the employer is free to terminate the employee's employment. The law does not require them to hold a job open indefinitely; only until such leave as is guaranteed by state or Federal law has expired.

That is not to say that the employee WILL be termed; many employers will voluntarily offer additional time off over and above FMLA to the tune of six months or even a year. It's just that legally, they CAN.

 

[pattytx]

I'm a little perplexed. Are you saying that if you were out sick for 5 days in a row, your previous employer would only charge 1 of those 5 days against your sick leave? I've been in this business for 27 years and I've never heard of that.

Now if you are talking about attendance and occurrences, plenty of companies treat a multiple-day absence for the same reason as one occurrence, but that basically relates to the employer's attendance policies, not the utilization/pay of sick leave hours/days.