Work refuses call out?

Nurses General Nursing

Updated:   Published

Specializes in Geriatric, med-surg.

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Legally speaking can your employer refuse your call out and force you to come in? Can you refuse to come in? We recently had this happen at my hospital where a nurse called out and spoke to the shift supervisor (which is routine) only to then get a call from our boss 10 min later telling them they cannot call out and need to report to work. I’ve always assumed that legally they cannot refuse a call out considering they can barely even ask why you’re calling out in the first place. 

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Specializes in Mental health, substance abuse, geriatrics, PCU.

Sometimes managers use that tactic to reduce call ins but it ultimately never works. There is no way she legally compel you to come to work against your will. However, failing to comply with that demand probably means you won't ever be returning to that facility. 

I think it's total crap for a person calling out to be told they can't or to give them a hard time because of it, you don't know what is going on with that person and they shouldn't be required to tell all the details of their situation. If this person is calling in too often, that needs to be addressed by management in person, not ambushing the person on the phone when their calling in.

Don't get me wrong, in nursing it is so important for us to show up but I've seen so many good nurses and good people just slung through the mud due to frequent call ins that they had related to medical and family issues, for most of them once their crisis was over they were back to being dependable.

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Specializes in school nurse.

No, they can't "force" you to come in. 

But they can make your life miserable and probably find a way to fire you.

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45 minutes ago, Nurseynurse11 said:

Legally speaking can your employer refuse your call out and force you to come in? Can you refuse to come in? We recently had this happen at my hospital where a nurse called out and spoke to the shift supervisor (which is routine) only to then get a call from our boss 10 min later telling them they cannot call out and need to report to work. I’ve always assumed that legally they cannot refuse a call out considering they can barely even ask why you’re calling out in the first place. 

They can treat it as a "voluntary resignation", but they can't force you to come in ...assuming there's no union involvement or ultra-special contract that specifies otherwise.

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Specializes in Geriatric, med-surg.

Yeah no union. Our boss literally called this nurse back and said you cannot call out you are expected in tonight. The girl told me she was speechless, started to cry and just hung up. We’ve been very worn out lately due to a new policy where it’s stupid easy to go out on LOA which is currently leaving us very short staffed. Do you think it would be worth anything for this nurse to contact HR and inform them of what happened? 

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Specializes in school nurse.
1 hour ago, Nurseynurse11 said:

Our boss literally called this nurse back and said you cannot call out you are expected in tonight. The girl told me she was speechless, started to cry and just hung up.

^^This is why management can continue to walk all over nurses.

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1 hour ago, Nurseynurse11 said:

Yeah no union. Our boss literally called this nurse back and said you cannot call out you are expected in tonight. The girl told me she was speechless, started to cry and just hung up. We’ve been very worn out lately due to a new policy where it’s stupid easy to go out on LOA which is currently leaving us very short staffed. Do you think it would be worth anything for this nurse to contact HR and inform them of what happened? 

HR works for "them", not for you . Complaining to HR will just put a bigger target on your back.

I would not have answered the phone after calling in. And if I somehow mistakenly answered it, I would have just keep repeating that I was sick and unable to come in.

I'd suggest a new job, but things are chaotic everywhere right now- at least in my area.

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3 hours ago, Nurseynurse11 said:

Legally speaking can your employer refuse your call out and force you to come in? Can you refuse to come in? We recently had this happen at my hospital where a nurse called out and spoke to the shift supervisor (which is routine) only to then get a call from our boss 10 min later telling them they cannot call out and need to report to work. I’ve always assumed that legally they cannot refuse a call out considering they can barely even ask why you’re calling out in the first place. 

We cannot give legal advice.  I can tell you,that with 30 years of bedside experience, no one told me I cannot call off. I did have supervisors try to bully me to come into work.

 Far as I know, it's still a free country.

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Specializes in ER.

Look up the facility's sick time policy, and the supervisor has to abide by the facility policy. If you HAVE sick time, you are allowed to call out sick. Some people will question you mercilessly, and ask you to try a dozen things, when youd be better off in bed. If you get questions, just say, "I'm not interested in discussing my health, its private. I'm informing you that I need to take a sick day. Thanks." (hang up)

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Specializes in ER, Pre-Op, PACU.
On 12/23/2020 at 10:00 AM, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

Sometimes managers use that tactic to reduce call ins but it ultimately never works. There is no way she legally compel you to come to work against your will. However, failing to comply with that demand probably means you won't ever be returning to that facility. 

I think it's total crap for a person calling out to be told they can't or to give them a hard time because of it, you don't know what is going on with that person and they shouldn't be required to tell all the details of their situation. If this person is calling in too often, that needs to be addressed by management in person, not ambushing the person on the phone when their calling in.

Don't get me wrong, in nursing it is so important for us to show up but I've seen so many good nurses and good people just slung through the mud due to frequent call ins that they had related to medical and family issues, for most of them once their crisis was over they were back to being dependable.

Yes. This happened to me once. I was a very dependable employee......very dedicated and motivated and knew the department inside and out....went through some severe medical issues and some family deaths that I really had no interest in relaying to my team and had to call out. Instead of trying to understand, the leadership team made my life absolutely miserable. They couldn’t fire me - but they truly made my life and job absolutely miserable and exhausting until I finally quit. Life is way too short to work with a team or leadership like that.

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Well, sometimes it’s a crazy world and the supervisors can be crazy too. Although not directly related to the OP, I thought I’d share an experience. This is in Navajo country and I was the infection control nurse. A M//S nurse called off for the night shift. The manager of the unit was on call but went home to Colorado. Her solution (or so she thought) was to load up all the patients and transport them to a hospital 50 miles away. Umm, yeah. Just so she wouldn’t have to drive the 2 hours back and work the night shift. Calmer heads prevailed and the day nurse stayed until midnight and someone else picked up the night shift. ?

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There’s no way to force someone to come in - sounds like that nurse was being bullied. As long as the nurse can document that they’re following policy (meaning, called in instead of no call/no show), there should be no repercussions beyond what’s in the policy about unscheduled absences. 

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