What happens if you are out for 2weeks because your husband is sick, can you be fired?

Question

Customer service worker's husband is sick in the hospital. She is out for over two weeks because of this. My question is; Can she be fired because she has been out, no sick days and no vacation days are left.

Answer 1

In the United States she may be protected under the FMLA (Family Medical and Leave Act) which states:

FMLA is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons. It also seeks to accommodate the legitimate interests of employers and promote equal employment opportunity for men and women.

FMLA applies to all public agencies, all public and private elementary and secondary schools, and companies with 50 or more employees. These employers must provide an eligible employee with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year for any of the following reasons:

• for the birth and care of the newborn child of an employee;

• for placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care;

• to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition; or

• to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.

Employees are eligible for leave if they have worked for their employer at least 12 months, at least 1,250 hours over the past 12 months, and work at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Whether an employee has worked the minimum 1,250 hours of service is determined according to FLSA principles for determining compensable hours or work.

Keep in mind that it would not be unreasonable (and your company's policy may require this) that documentation to verify his hospital stay is provided.

Answer 2

Depends. Some states are a right to work state so the employee can quit anytime and the employer can fire you any-time. If her being away from the office is causing a burden on the company, they can fire her. The FMLA can help, but has to be filed for scheduled time-off (in advance) as far as I remember.

Answer 3

It depends.

If she
- Works for a company with at least 50 people in a 75 mile radius, and
- Has worked for that company for 12 months, and
- Has worked at least 1250 hours in those 12 months (which is approximately 25 hours a week)

Then yes. However, she is *not* guaranteed to get paid for that time. For more information see FMLA act

Answer 4

It is a gray area. Adults usually can take care of themselves, while children are expected to need adult supervision. I would guess that it depends on the nature of the husband's illness. If it is life-threatening, I would think the company would be more lenient. If not, then they might be more strict.

Ultimately, it is up to the company policies. Remember that assuming they need to replace her, they would have to recruit and train a new person, whiich costs money. But I suspect that if they wanted to fire her, they could.

Answer 5

The answer about FMLA is spot-on. She needs to speak to your company's Human Resources person immediately and explain the situation. If she is covered by FMLA she'll be reassured that she can take off work (unpaid). If she is not covered by FMLA then she needs to know that ASAP and figure out her options.

Answer 6

I'm not sure exactly what it takes to quailify but I believe the Family Leave Act is a federal law that should protect her. I would look into that.

Answer 7

You can. The only way that is excuseable is if you are the person that is sick.

Answer 8

In the UK no, she can declare dependants leave. She would not be paid for this and should not be penalised for it.