Anyone who’s working in an office, on a building site or in a cafe will know about health and safety concerns. Please be aware that we use various Cookie technology across our website. You can also opt-out of having your anonymised browsing activity within websites recorded by analytics cookies. For more information or to request a consultation please contact the law offices of SBEMP (Slovak, Baron, Empey, Murphy & Pinkney) by clicking here. Each year, Australia Day brings with it anticipation that as many as 200,000 workers will take the after (Friday) off and score a four-day weekend. 1. In order to get that holiday pay, however, you cannot call in sick the day before. The company’s bottom line isn’t all you’re hurting; it could potentially damage your standing at work too. Every company I have worked for had the rule that if you call in the day before or after a holiday you wouldn't be paid for the holiday. The absence is not protected by the Paid Sick Leave Law. As you know, the Labor Commissioner has adopted the position that as long as the employees have job-protected sick days available under the Paid Sick Leave Law to be used, requiring the employees to produce a doctor’s note in order to use their available sick days is a violation of the Paid Sick Leave Law. Registered Office: The Peninsula, Victoria Place, Manchester, M4 4FB. Hi all, Not sure if anyone cares but seeing as how I couldn’t find any concrete info about this anywhere, here goes for the next guy. Your employer can ask you to show why you missed work. You may disable these by changing your browser setting, but this may affect our websites functionality and your user experience. For example, being sick or injured might be a good enough reason. Please complete the form below and we will be in touch as soon as possible. If an employee calls in sick the day before or after the holiday, can the company require the employee to produce a doctor’s note in order to receive pay for the holiday? Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management and accessibility. . Get the latest news & tips that matter most to your business in our monthly newsletter, In the Loop. What if John calls in sick on a "before and after day"? For any questions regarding new laws, or existing laws, contact the Labor and Employment Law Attorneys at SBEMP. The law establishes rules that could disqualify you from getting a paid stat holiday. The employer cannot ask for a doctor’s note and cannot discipline the employee for violating the employer’s policy prohibiting employees from calling out sick the day before or after a holiday. As co-chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment Practice Group, Bill is particularly versed in all aspects of state and federal law relating to minimum wages, overtime, exemptions, and wage payment issues. Additional facts or future developments may affect subjects contained within this blog post. Therefore, the focus of the analysis is on whether or not the employees are using their accrued and available sick days in order to call out sick the day before or after the holiday. Complete the form and an expert will call you. Try to determine whether their sickness was genuine by asking them questions regarding their symptoms, treatment, recovery and whether they’re feeling better. Family Law Attorney Advice: Enforcement Proceedings, Webisode 7: NonProfits and Philanthropy | PALM SPRINGS LIFE, Family Law Attorney Advice: Domestic Partnerships, Webisode 6: Retail and Restaurants | PALM SPRINGS LIFE, Valuation And Distribution Of Property Law. This type of cookie collects information in a way that does not directly identify anyone. Well if you’re thinking of calling in sick after the break – think again. If a person calls in sick the day before or after a holiday the employee must furnish a doctor’s note otherwise they are not paid for the day they called in sick on or the holiday. Get a free callback from one of our experts. This can be an attempt to enjoy the holiday they’ve planned without the risk of having their annual leave request refused because it’s too long – but how can you manage this? Under these circumstances, the employer can apply its policy of requiring a doctor’s note to substantiate the absence. What should you do if someone calls in sick either side of their holiday leave? As long as John worked on that day and on December 28, he is entitled to statutory holiday pay for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. With your permission, we'd also like to set optional Google analytics cookies to help us improve our service, however, we won't set optional cookies unless you enable them. Peninsula Business Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for the sale of non-investment insurance contracts. The rest of us get paid the regular holiday pay. DISCLAIMER: This blog post does not constitute legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed by reading it. However, we do not respond to specific legal questions in this space. We use necessary cookies to make our website operate. Accessibility Policy, Marie-Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Then the last day that John was scheduled to work was on December 16. Is it legal to make redundancies remotely? Managing Editor. If an employee still had sick days available and called out sick the day before or after the scheduled holiday closing, the employer will not be able to require the employee to produce a doctor’s note to substantiate the absence, even though the employer has a policy that allows it to require a doctor’s note when an employee is absent under these circumstances. Common examples include on a night shift ... As lockdown restrictions lift, it’s for your business to have a coronavirus-based office risk assess... It’s a legal requirement for your business to perform a workplace health & safety risk assessmen... For many businesses, redundancy is a difficult situation to approach. Remember that if the sickness absence lasted more than 7 days, the employee should provide you with a fit note. Registered in England and Wales No: 1702759. However, if the employee has already used all of her accrued and available sick days for the year, then any subsequent absence from work would not be protected under the Paid Sick Leave Law, even if the employee was legitimately sick or needed to take the time off to care for a legitimately sick family member. If your absence policy allows you to, you may be able to treat the incident as misconduct and take disciplinary action against them. Nowhere in the Ontario Employment Standards Code does it say you have to provide a doctor’s note when you call in sick before a stat holiday. Extensive induction periods, seemin... An accident is defined as ‘an event that is without apparent cause, or is unexpected.’ Therefore, the accident may have been avoided if action had bee... Lone workers are employees who perform their duties alone. Archived [update] Getting paid for stat holiday if you call in sick the day after. Am I liable if staff come to work instead of self-isolating? If employees call out sick the day before or the day after a scheduled holiday closing and they have no sick days accrued and available, it does not matter that they claim to have been sick or were legitimately sick before or after the holiday. Our company has a policy that requires employees to be at work the day before and after a company-observed holiday in order to be paid for that holiday. Invite the employee to an informal meeting and tell them about the rumour you’ve heard. fail without reasonable cause to work all of their last regularly scheduled day of work before the public holiday or all of their first regularly scheduled day of work after the public holiday (this is called the “Last and First Rule”); fail without reasonable cause to work their entire shift on the public holiday if they agreed to or were required to work that day. If taking formal action, remember to show the employee any evidence you’ve gathered and allow them to put their version of events or any mitigation they may have across. Original Post. SBEMP LLP is a full service law firm with attorney offices in Palm Springs (Palm Desert, Inland Empire, Rancho Mirage), CA; Costa Mesa (Orange County), CA; San Diego, CA; New Jersey, NJ; and New York, NY. Privacy Policy
Close. We welcome your comments on our blog articles. In that case, the employer can ask for a doctor’s note if the employee calls out sick before or after a holiday. Remembrance Day public holiday, poppy and pandemic issues, What you need to know about the three Canada recovery benefits, Thanksgiving Day in Canada: Monday, October 12, temporary help agency assignment employees. We'd like to set Google Analytics cookies on your visit, which is a performance cookie that would help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting on information relating to how you use it.