Should high absenteeism be cause to be fired?

[Emergent, RN]

My hospital seems to be cracking down on absenteeism. The second person this month in our dept was just fired. He has a wife with severe medical problems. He also calls in for bs reasons I suspect.

He was fired while his wife was hospitalized and he called in. That seems like kicking a man while he is down to me.

I'm wondering, is nursing only for people with no health problems in themselves or their immediate families?

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Where I live they will fire you if you have a sick family member....

[h=3]Massachusetts Man Fired After Revealing His Wife Has Cancer[/h]

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

It's not just nursing that has this type of policy. Absenteeism is grounds for dismissal/firing in most careers/jobs.

I was fired from a retail position I had . I was never late and never absent in the year preceeding my dismissal. As a matter of fact I was the one who would come in early and stay late as well as come in on my days off to fill in.

I called in sick (I truely was sick). My boss (who also owned the small retail store) told me if I didn't come in for work that day to considered myself fired. I didn't go in and he called me at the end of the day to tell me I was fired. I called the Labor Board and inquired if I could be fired for calling in for one day in a year. When asked to read our handbook policy on absenteeism, it stated, the employee would be fired for excessive absenteeism. The board said since 'excessive' is subjective and it didn't give a specific number of absences that would be considered excessive, I could be let go. The owner of the company may feel that one time in a year is excessive while someone else may say 6 times in a year is.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I think chronic absenteeism should result in disciplinary action of some sort.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

That is so interesting that you say that. Any number of evaluations of late seem to have a "you call out too much" undertone to them. Or rather "you do not have a bunch of sick time left".

Sick time is accumulated. If you have it, not using it, there it sits as part of your compensation package. It is interesting that this is something that seems to be a forefront in advertising for nurses (One sick day a month!! Vacation up to blah blah a year!) HOwever, if you actually USE it, then it is used against you. Some companies even have sick banks, that if you don't have it, you get paid anyways. But again, lose your job over it?

Time off is time off earned. If facilities have no intention of letting you actually use the time off you have earned, then they shouldn't offer it as part of a package. But they do. And once they lure you in, then it is held against you. Ah, the sweet smell of corporate America!!

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Constantly calling in on your weekend, calling in beyond what you have PTO for, etc. I think should be grounds for discipline.

Calling in when your wife is in the hospital like in this situation? That's disgusting. Does he qualify for FMLA? If so I would think he might be able to dispute the termination (although personally I wouldn't want to work somewhere where I'm that valued ). He should have 12 weeks of job protection to care for a family member. I know men are able to take it following the birth of a child even though HE didn't give birth, so can't see why not for a hospitalized wife.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Sick time is accumulated. If you have it, not using it, there it sits as part of your compensation package.....Time off is time off earned. If facilities have no intention of letting you actually use the time off you have earned, then they shouldn't offer it as part of a package. But they do. And once they lure you in, then it is held against you. Ah, the sweet smell of corporate America!!

This!!!

[elkpark]

Unfortunately, employers feel they have to have policies in place to deal with people who do abuse their sick time, and innocent people sometimes get caught up in thoses policies because the policies have to be enforced consistently. My last employer before my current one had a policy (which I thought was unnecessarily strict) that two call-offs in a year made you ineligible for the annual incentive bonus, and three got you formally disciplined (five got you fired), regardless of how legitimate those call-offs might be. Consecutive days counted as one call-off, however many days you stayed out. Non-consecutive days counted as separate call-offs, regardless. My father was dying in another state, and I called in that I had to go out of town to see him before he died, and would be gone X number of days. Because I had a day off scheduled in the middle of the days, the employer counted it as two separate call-offs, even though it was one event and I told them up front how many days I would be gone, and I had nothing to do with the fact that a scheduled day off fell in the middle of the block of time. I thought that was pretty nasty of them, but that was the policy.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

If you are calling in alot for BS reasons then yes you should be fired...

[westieluv]

I am currently employed in a department that cannot keep staff. They train them, they work a couple of months, and they quit. As a result, they are way too lenient with sick calls. I understand when someone is legitimately sick and needs to stay home, and I have done so myself. However, when someone calls off repeatedly because they know that they can because the company will not discipline them due to lack of staff and fear of getting rid of someone, then it affects their co-workers very negatively. When it gets to the point that you dread that someone is scheduled on your day to work because you know that they will be calling off AGAIN and leaving the department short AGAIN, meaning a much longer day for you and your co-workers, then yes, there needs to be discipline and, if necessary, dismissal from the company.

Think about it: someone that calls off over and over and over really isn't an asset to the company anyway, and they just cause upheaval and turmoil with their repeated call offs, so what good are they?

Of course, I am not referring to someone calling off when they are legitimately ill or have an ill family member, as that is a completely different situation. However, I would much rather see someone utilize their FMLA benefit than call off for days or weeks on end, even when it is legitimate, as in the case where the man has a sick wife. At least then you know that their spot will need to be filled and there won't be a big question mark every time that they are scheduled to work.

We had one nurse who called off for three months straight with no apparent health issue, either with herself or a family member, just a vague "I can't make it in" over and over, called in by 5 pm the evening before no less, and still had a job with our company. Really?????

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

It's a business. If you cannot be depended on to be present, then you obviously need to find another job. Some people do abuse the system.

People with chronic isisiues, including caring for family members, are covered under FMLA law. Calling in periodically is not the same.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Firing him for calling in when his wife was hospitalized is pretty crappy timing. But to play devil's advocate, perhaps this was just the last straw? I'm not condoning the 'kicking him while he's down' thing, of course, but if this guy called out often for reasons OTHER than his wife being in the hospital (the BS reasons mentioned in the OP), then maybe this was just 'IT' for the company.

If they wanted to be kind, considering the wife situation, they could have waited until he NEXT called in, which it seems wouldn't have been too long anyway.