Sick pay after giving notice

MB1004

An ee gives his 2 weeks notice. He then works 2 more days, calls out sick for two days and then stops showing up to work and doesn't call. He has no vacation left and exactly 2 sick days.

Our policy pays out vacation if you give 2 weeks notice, but sick time is not paid out. It also states that two days no call/no show is considered voluntary termination.

My question is this...are we obligated to pay him for the 2 sick days? Technically he abandoned his job on the 2nd no call/no show, but did call out sick the two previous days. Does anyone have any sort of verbage in their handbooks saying that once notice is given, ee is no longer eligible to use sick pay?

hhaynal

I'd pay him the four days (2 dyas worked and 2 sick days) and be done with it.

MB1004

That's what I recommended. I thought we'd be legally obligated to pay him since there's nothing in our policy about not being able to use sick time after giving notice. When our GM saw the check with the sick time, he threw a fit, made payroll recut it w/o the sick pay and said let them take us to court.

System

I would not pay him. For termination purposes, his last day on the job was his last day worked. That's what you would report to unemployment. I would not pay sick time after the last day of actual work.

Our handbook says "Accrued unused sick leave will be lost upon termination of employment."

MB1004

s moll-
I wasn't looking at it that way, but that makes sense since he just stopped showing after calling out those two days and I did use his actual last day worked for record.
Our handbook also says something to that effect. But what about those employees who give their notice, call out sick for 3-4 days to use up their sick time and then come back and work out their remaining 2 weeks. This isn't the case now, but I was just wondering if anyone had a policy in place to thwart abuse of sick time like that...or maybe it's never been an issue?

System

We don't have a policy about calling out sick after giving notice, though I think it's a good idea. I just haven't gotten around to writing it. What I've done is send a letter accepting the resignation and notifying the employee that if they report off sick during the notice period, they would be terminated on their last day worked and sick time would not be paid. That wasn't my typical acceptance letter, but I knew this employee was going to call out.

atrimble

"In the event of sickness of more than two (2) days in the last two (2) calendar weeks prior to termination of employment with employer, for any reason, the employee shall provide to employer a physician’s statement verifying the illness before employer will approve payment of sick leave."
-AND-
"Employer requires a doctor’s statement before approving paid sick leave of five (5) consecutive days or more. Employer may require a doctor’s statement before approving paid sick leave any time it has reason to believe the employee’s health may place other employees at risk or the employee is abusing the privilege of sick leave."

I've found that if terminating employees know they're going to have to go to the doctor to get paid for being gone, they'll typically refrain from being absent.

MB1004

atrimble-
Thanks, I like the idea of requiring a dr's note. That way you're not necessarily saying that they cannot use sick time, but simply detering them from abusing it. People do dislike seeing a dr for minor illnesses, especially when there's a $15 or $20 copay involved.