Would you accept this call out excuse?

[motherof3sons]

Thursday night I got a call at 7pm from a night shift CNA saying she was tired and didn't sleep that day and couldn't come in for her shift 11-7.

I told her that I that I would write up the call-out slip, but I didn't think being tired was an acceptable excuse. I got a string of profanities and then "fine, I'll come in"

I called my DON and double checked with her and she backed me up....but wow....if you are going to call out, come up with a better excuse, please!

[wooh, BSN, RN]

And what if she really was too tired? Would you want someone with no sleep working? That just isn't safe.

If its habitual, then there is a problem, but habitual call-ins happen for a number of different reasons.

Agreed. As long as the CNA makes it to work, who cares if they kill themselves and a family of four when they fall asleep at the wheel on the way home.

Lack of planning isn't the only reason you don't get enough sleep. Whether you work day or night.

You ask for a reason, you're asking for a lie. Because if someone will call out for a "not good enough" reason, they aren't going to worry about lying to do it.

Someone tells you the truth and you question them on it, doesn't justify cussing, but I'm not surprised they were upset.

[Dragan]

Pass the buck to the duty nurse manager/after hours manager, this is the best option. I've seen good staff ask too many questions then the conflict continues when they see each other on the ward. Whatever they say, 'I hate my life and my job so I'm not coming in ; p', just get them to ring the above mentioned and they can explain to them or if you have to ring them, leave them to explain to the ward manager when they're on next...

[amoLucia]

PTO (paid time off) is considered a benefit. Not every employer HAS TO provide PTO, and those that do, may all have different allowances. Therefore, employees may have to provide a valid reason in order to be paid. Absences also may be considered as 'excuse-able' or 'non-excusable', regardless of being paid or not. This is all probably all spelled out in your employee handbook.

As a supervisor, I was REQUIRED to record reasons (and time) of callout by staff. I asked - "what do you want me to put down"? I didn't demand reasons; I didn't challenge reasons; I wrote what they told me. But I could alert employees that the reason may or may not be accepted (just like OP did) and would they want to reconsider. They could still callout. Not my responsibility to approve the absence. Higher-upper's would determine that. I would just try to cover the stafinggap.

We also had a rule that it was supposed to be the employee, him/herself, that was to speak with the super directly. So if it was somebody else, I would record a 'child' or a 'male 'called.

I think OP was just rattled by the abusive response she rec'd from the caller. Justly so. Talk about who's disrespecting whom?!? She didn't deserve that type of response. Technically, she probably could write up that the employee for being "verbally abusive, argumentative and/or insubordinate", but that's a whole other issue. OP was just trying to offer some advice and she got shot down.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

First of all, I have called off for no sleep. I did it once, because I'd worked the night before and simply couldn't sleep the next day. Going to work would have meant being awake more than 48 hrs. It wasn't safe. To those of you who've never worked nights, there are days you just can't sleep.

I have worked places where "personal" was a sufficient reason for missing days. Where I currently work I have to lie, because "personal" isn't good enough. I hate, hate, hate to call off. The sup knows I'm lying. I know I'm lying. It makes both of us feel small.

[mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN]

We have a 2 hour call off window. I have not had to call out, so I don't know if I have to give a reason. I do qualify for intermittent FMLA so I guess I have that option when it is appropriate. I don't like to miss work.

I have had times when I worked nights that I couldn't sleep well. I have told them I don't feel safe working nights and they worked out solution for me (days) instead of a rotating day/night schedule

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

On one hand, I agree that it's not really the facility's business why you call out. On the other hand, I've worked in places where half the staff would call out for sporting events.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

Our policy is that there needs to be a valid excuse.

This is a legal minefield which sets up the employer and employees for failure in the long run. Employers are free to set attendance standards - up to and including zero paid absences - but "valid" is just asking for eventual litigation which is a waste of everyone's time.

[shodobe]

The last time I checked, according to labor laws it is considered harrasment on your part if you question the person's excuse for calling off. They don't even have to tell you why, only they're not coming. We do have a max amount you can call off until discipline kicks in.

[caliotter3]

We also had a rule that it was supposed to be the employee, him/herself, that was to speak with the super directly. So if it was somebody else, I would record a 'child' or a 'male 'called.

Reminds me of my dad when he worked night shift. When he didn't want to go to work, he would make my mom call off for him. For the life of me, even as a little child, I wondered why he didn't call for himself.

[amoLucia]

On one hand, I agree that it's not really the facility's business why you call out. On the other hand, I've worked in places where half the staff would call out for sporting events.

And Mother's Day & Father's Day. But, oh yeah, Super Bowl Sunday....and if it's a local team playing!

[kcochrane]

I supervise at two different facilities. One I don't ask why they are calling because PTO is for whatever you want to use if for. If you call in too many times, you get written up. The other I have to ask since they need to be sick to get paid. If they don't say they are sick, they don't get paid. I think advising the CNA was appropriate and she still could have stayed home. The swearing was uncalled for, but doesn't suprise me.

[IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

Our policy is that there needs to be a valid excuse. I was willing to accept the excuse but warned her that the excuse may not be valid...that is when she started swearing. I was more put off by the swearing than anything. We have no extra coverage for nights at this point....so instead of 4 CNA's there would have been 3. Just no good solution anyway you put it.

Who determines what is valid? That's a very vague policy.