Work refuses call out?

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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. 

Specializes in NICU/Mother-Baby/Peds/Mgmt.
On 12/25/2020 at 11:11 AM, jobellestarr said:

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. ?

Please tell me she didn't keep that job!  Right there it's stupidity x 2.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).

Well they are not going to come to your house and drag you to work. So no they can't force you to work. They may tell you to come to work or be suspended or fired and you will have a decision to make. It has become notoriously difficult to prove unlawful termination cases especially in "At will" employment states where laws typically favor the employer. I had a director of nursing question how sick I was once and I gave them documentation from my physician but that's as far as I went.  Still in California you can be written-up, suspended or terminated for excessive cal outs even with a doctor's note so I keep my call outs to a minimum.

Hppy

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This happens were l work all the time, management not wanting to learn how to manage people

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A shift supervisor told me to bring in a doctor's note when I returned one time.  Cost me to go to the doctor but thought it was nice that they told me to stay home for two more days than I originally thought I would need. 

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

well, the last time I called out was because my car broke down on the side of the road. I COULDN'T get to work if I wanted (I live 40+ mi from work) What if you have a fever? puking? in the world of Covid, that is really stupid to make someone come in. 

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managers used to be helpful in those cases and some still are but not all

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