by Miss. Anonymous
(Florida)
In Florida. I worked for this company for about 7 months, throughout those months I missed days for being sick and I also took vacation days which I earned and should not have been counted against me. I was given two written warnings. I was doing fine and coming to work like I was suppose to until my grandfather suffered a heart attack(He also works for this company). That night he had to be life flighted to Tallahassee and the other adults(my mother and grandmother) followed behind him and I was left to baby sit, I had no choice but to stay home the next day. My grandfather has worked for that company since it opened and they knew what had happened. After that a couple days later I was called in for a Adverse Action Committee meeting, this meeting is an opportunity for the employee to explain the reason for absence. On that day there were two other people ahead of me for the same reason, they were not fired but only put on some type of probation. They already knew what happened with my grandfather, but they pretended as if they didn’t know I was related to him. I also explained to them that I was honestly sick on the days that I missed work. No I didn’t have doctors notes but I did call in each time I was out. If I didn’t have the energy to get out of bed to go to work in the first place how did they expect me to have the energy go sit in a doctors office each time I was ill.
Hi Miss Annonymous,
All I’ve really got to say to you is .. do what the state usually does .. focus on the final incident of being absent. The reason you were absent is where any strength you may have exists.
Additionally, look at the attendance policy for an error in the application of the policy to your attendance situation.
I would have told your employer something different .. not now, she had a good reason for the absence .. the care of children during a family medical emergency.
Wait for the next time when she calls in because she’s so lacking in energy that she can’t bother to go to the doctor to find out what’s wrong with her .. since the problem seems to be consistent. Request a doctor notes when she calls in.
But, there was a reason they chose to fire you. I suspect it was the fact that in seven months of employment you had managed to demonstrate that you would continue to have attendance issues.
I also suspect that the employer may have made a judgment call about your future reliability as an employee and decided to cut their losses now despite the fact you might be able to collect benefits .. because their financial liability for the claim would be limited due to the fact that you had only worked for seven months.
If you’re wondering why I decided to play devil’s advocate in your case .. it was this very immature statement.
“If I didn’t have the energy to get out of bed to go to work in the first place how did they expect me to have the energy go sit in a doctors office each time I was ill.”
If you didn’t think you were ill enough to go to the doctor .. why didn’t you go to work and tough it out.
Much of this is just plain old good sense which includes personal responsibility .. everyday.
Here’s a question if anyone cares to comment.
How many of you have gone to work and toughed it out, when the hardest thing you did all day was the first thing you did .. swing your feet out of bed and put them on the floor?
Chris (aka The Pushover .. not)