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  1. #1

    Default Changing Sick Leave and Vacation Policy

    My question involves employment and labor law for the state of: CA

    Hello,
    My question is regarding whether or not it is legal for the company to change its sick leave and vacation policy after beginning of employment. and does by doing that I (as an employee) can legally resign under the same terms as if I've been fired (Worsening conditions)?

    To make my question clearer here are a few details:
    - I joined the company a few months ago, and received a signing bonus. according to the contract I have to give the bonus amount back in case I resign in less than 12 months since accepting the offer.
    - Regarding sick leave and vacation policy - the contract does not mention the policy specifically. The only paragraph that may indicate anything about it is as follows:
    "As a Company employee, you will also be eligible to participate in the employee benefits plan, in
    accordance with the terms of such plans, maintained by the Company from time to time of
    general applicability to other employees of the Company, subject to any restrictions imposed by
    applicable law. You should note that the Company reserves the right to cancel or change the
    benefit plans and programs it offers to its employees at any time. The Company is authorized to
    withhold, or cause to be withheld, from any payment or benefit under this offer the full amount
    of any applicable taxes and any other customary or required deductions. The Company also
    reserves its right to modify job titles and salaries from time to time as it deems necessary and in
    its sole discretion."
    - I'm not clear on whether the definition of "benefits plan" includes sick leave and vacation policy or is it just the health\vision\dental insurance, 401K, etc...?
    - before accepting the offer, I inquired HR to understand the policy, here is the answer I received by email:
    "...we offer a flexible work environment. For this reason we do not have a vacation policy or a set number of vacation days per year. This means we do not track any time off. This also means employees do not accrue any paid time off or vacation"
    - Now to the interesting part - after a few months of working for that company , the company decided to issue a new policy (for all employees), the explanation to that step is the following:
    "Effective January 1, 2015, we are required by Law to provide Sick Leave in various states. We are required to offer and track this leave separately from any other type of leaves. In addition, we will need to track time off for all of our employees by categories due to various legal requirements and reporting purposes. In order to comply with legal requirements we have implemented the attached Leave policies effective January 1, 2015 and all US Employees are required to comply with these policies."
    - Vacation policy did not change - only tracking method was added. but the interesting part is the sick leave policy:
    "Employees accrue sick leave as follows:

    • All regular full-time, part-time, or temporary employees working 30 days in a twelve month period,

    accrue sick leave from the date of hire at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked.

    • Any unused accrued paid sick leave will carry over to the next year.

    • Sick leave accrual is capped at a maximum of 48 hours (six days).
    "
    - This adds a limitation that did not exist before. Is that legal? Does that allow me to resign under the claim of "Worsening conditions" (and keep the bonus) ?

    Your help is much appreciated, Thanks!

  2. #2

    Default Re: Changing Sick Leave and Vacation Policy

    They told you they could change it and they did. It's no fun but I don't know if it meets anything close to worsening conditions, although your employer is offering the bare minimum allowed by law.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Posts
    8,006

    Default Re: Changing Sick Leave and Vacation Policy

    I seriously doubt a court would let you get away with a quit and keep the bonus just because of that.

    Stand by for the more learned HR minds.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Changing Sick Leave and Vacation Policy

    Of course it's legal.

    I very seriously doubt that changing their policy to one that is much more standard than the one they had initially will be seen as "worsening conditions" that will allow you to quit and still keep the bonus.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Changing Sick Leave and Vacation Policy

    Quote Quoting cbg
    View Post
    Of course it's legal.

    I very seriously doubt that changing their policy to one that is much more standard than the one they had initially will be seen as "worsening conditions" that will allow you to quit and still keep the bonus.
    ok, got it, thanks.

    another question: What happens if I'm sick and out of sick days?
    according to the policy
    If sick leave is exhausted, employee can request additional time off under Company’s Vacation policy

    which will be approved at Company discretion and per the terms of Vacation policy.
    The terms of Vacation policy says that It's up to manager's approval. so let's assume manager does not approve.
    My understanding is that I will not be payed for these days, but I still have the right not to come to work if I am sick and do not have sick days left. Am I correct?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Changing Sick Leave and Vacation Policy

    If you are asking me to give you permission to take unapproved sick leave as long as you don't get paid for it, sorry but I'm not buying.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Posts
    1,991

    Default Re: Changing Sick Leave and Vacation Policy

    It's not illegal to miss work without approval, you can certainly be terminated and may be disqualified from unemployment and TANF unless you meet criteria for FMLA or have an employment contract to the contrary

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Posts
    1,142

    Default Re: Changing Sick Leave and Vacation Policy

    If you are out of work with a doctor's excuse, regardless of whether you have sick leave or not, or even if you have pointed out on your employer's leave program, whatever, if you have a doctor's excuse for the absence for which they fired you, the company can still fire you, but you may very well be approved for unemployment benefits.

    They (unemployment system) tends in all states to look at a documented illness or medical emergency as something unavoidable, not as work related misconduct. Therefore, if your employer fires you for being off work without sick leave according to the company policy, you can probably qualify for unemployment benefits if you have a doctor's statement showing that you were really illor there was some great medical emergency. But in no case is it illegal for the employer to fire you for taking this absence even if you have medical documentation out the wazoo.

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