Can you be fired for being away from work with a sick child?

Answer 1

hell no you cant. if it was you that was sick they would tell you to bring in a doctors note. so if you take your kid to the doctor just have them right you a note to your boss proving that your kid is sick enough to have to go to the doctor. if you get fired thats bull sh*t you should call someone higher up then your boss and get them fired and get your job back

Answer 2

Unfortunately, you can. America is in the dark ages as far as family time versus work time. We basically don't have any rights when it comes to issues like this. When I got pregnant my boss started making my life miserable, threatened to fire me, to make me work a harder job for less pay, to take away my insurance and other benefits. I called the Dept. of Labor and the ACLU and both told me that she could do whatever she wanted to me as far as my job was concerned, I had absolutely no rights. Same thing if you take time off to be with a sick child. My friend's child was sick so her boss told her she couldn't get her vacation time off since she missed a few days when he was sick. She had already bought plane tickets and everything so she said she was still taking her vacation, he fired her on the spot. Our politicians are the only ones who can change how working parents are treated, but they won't because our country is so focused on work and money and the bottom line.

Answer 3

In most places, yes. But like someone else said, if this is a long term thing, you should be eligible for a Family Medical Leave if you've been there for a while.

Also, if you've already been fired, check out your unemployment benefits. My mom was able to get unemployment the year I was 12 and my brother was 8, and neither of us was sick. And she quit. My dad was forced onto 2nd shift by his union shop, and she was also working 2nd shift. She put in for a transfer (and there was plenty of work available from what I understand) to a different shift because she didn't want us to have a baby sitter nor did she want to leave us alone that long. They denied it, so she quit. They never showed at the unemployment hearing, thinking she didn't have a leg to stand on and they granted her the unemployment. So it's always worth a shot!

Answer 4

You can be fired for being away from work for too long a period of time, either too many days in a row or too many days within a specific time frame. Or even leaving work quite often in the middle of the day. It doesn't matter what the reason is, so it would have nothing to do with why you weren't working but only with the fact that you weren't working.

Most jobs allow a certain number of days with a time frame for their employees to be able to take off for sick days or emergency purposes. Taking more than this amount off can lead to dismissal because you become a liability to the company, and the reason for having you there is so that you will work.

Understand that you work for the company and not the other way around. The company can not exist if their employees only work when their employees feel it is convenient for them to work.

You might not like that answer, but it's the truth. If you want people to tell you only what you want to hear, then tell them how you want them to respond when posing your question.

Answer 5

Yes...

A lot of it depends your companies policy and procedures. Some companies give you so many sick days per year. Most will allow you to use these to attend to a sick child. However, if you use up all of your sick time, missing additional days, even though legitimate, may be counted as unexcused absences.

On the other hand. In the event of an ongoing illness, you can file for FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) with your employers... if you have worked there for more than 1 year. Filing for FMLA will guarentee you that you can't lose your job for missing something like 12 weeks per year...

Finally... Even if you cross all your t's... and dot all your i's... Even if you follow all the rules and meet your companies guidelines... If they really want to get rid of you, they will probably find a way.

Answer 6

Well that depends on the severity of the sickness of the child.

If the kid is just regular sick (flu or cold) and it happens multiple times that reach the point were you have used all of your own sick time or broken company policy to be with the child then yes you could be fired for being home with your sick child.

If the kid is really sick (hospital) AND you work for a company with 50 plus employees then you could invoke the Family Medical Leave Act which could save your job for a time, or make sure you would have a job to go back to even if it was not the job you had depending on length of leave.

Answer 7

There's a certain law in place and it's called The Family Medical Leave act. We can thank Bill Clinton for this law.

The FMLA is in effect when you work for a company that has 50 or more employees. You can take that leave after you've used up vacation/sick time and need to be out of work for an extended period of time.

Answer 8

Under the Family Medical Leave act, as long as you company has 100 or more employees (worldwide including affiliates) you are entitled to 12 week of unpaid leave a year-they still have to pay insurance.

I have dealt with HR on these cases many times and they often either do not know or lie to the employee about these issues-I would need to know know more specifics-but under most circumstances NO NO NO -your family comes first
anyway !!!!!

Answer 9

Yes, that is why it is important for new hires to actually READ and UNDERSTAND all of their employer's policies BEFORE they sign anything. Once the signature is on that contract they can fire you for any abuse of any of their policies.
I was fired from a well known insurance company because I "abused' the attendance/sick leave/family sickleave policy. The policy stated that any sick leave/family sick leave was not to go over 4 days in a quarter (every three months) however when my now ex husband was in the military he was TDY for (playing over seas with Saddam during "Desert Storm" under W's Father),a month. My daughter came down with strep throat/bronchitis and could not go to day care for a week, we had no family in the area and everyone who lived around us also worked during the day so I HAD to stay at home with her for that week. When I returned to work I got a warning...two days later I came down with pneumonia and was out for two weeks. Upon my return to work I was given my "walking papers" and told to clean out my desk...BTW I had three weeks of sick leave saved up but it was still abuse of the company policy...

Answer 10

Yes and no. If you are eligible for Family Medical Leave Act coverage and your child has a serious health condition your job may be protected for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year. If you are not eligible for Family Medical Leave Act AND there is not similar state leave act then you could be fired. It would depend on your attendance policy at work, your prior performance and attendance issues and whether you were not following the required policy regarding attendance.

Answer 11

Some employers include sick leave for family members' illness as part of their benefits. It could depend on the employer but doesn't seem like a valid reason for firing someone.