Employee and daycare issue

JCA · December 2003

I have a new employee who before being hired said repeatedly that they had open availability to work, now that they are hired the employee is calling in saying they don't have anyone to watch the children and that Oklahoma just passed a law that prohibits us the employer from terminating because of daycare problems. I have looked everywhere I can think of to find out about this, to no avail. I think this employee is pulling a fast one. Any help would be helpful.

mwild31 · December 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 12-30-03 AT 11:53AM (CST)[/font][br][br]I haven't heard of it - I did a quick search & couldn't find anything - contact the Oklahoma Department of Labor to verify, the numbers/email are located on this site:

[url]http://www.youroklahoma.com/~okdol/admin/contact.htm[/url]

JCA · December 2003

Thanks, I will contact DOL. I have asked the supervisor to get more info, and the employee will be asking their father who is in court all day today...........

System · December 2003

I love the way employees interpret the law. I would never terminate an employee for day care problems. I would; however, terminate them for not coming to work or for excessive absences - the reason they don't show up is not why they're being let go.

Some states have a protection for family or marital status. Your employee may think that she is protected under one of those.

If I'm wrong, I would love to read the section under the law in Oklahoma.

"Sam"

JCA · December 2003

I really love how employees all seem to have atty's just waiting around for them.
I will let you know if I can actually find anything in reference to this.
Thanks

Whatever · December 2003

Can you terminate for lying on their application?

JCA · December 2003

Yes, we can terminate for lying on the application, and if the attendance problem persists, I will be recommending that. I just want to dot my i's and cross my t's first.

marc · December 2003

This EE immediately jumped to an excuse about why they cannot be fired. She must understand that she is in some level of trouble about misleading you as to her availability to work.

It might be interesting to confront her about that statement to see what she says, but as to your question, I would trust Mwilds net research, she is quite good at that - just use the phone numbers on the site and document your conversation with whomever answers your question.

I sympathise with day care issues, but would not let that be an excuse. I don't know about terminating, but I would definitely sit down and try to problem solve with this EE. Keeping in mind that showing up to do the work is an integral part of the job and that excess absenteeism and tardiness will lead to termination.

Don D · January 2004

Although Oklahoma law may prohibit the termination of an employee based on familial circumstances, I doubt that the state law precludes termination of an employee for attendance or for being unable to fulfill the job's requirements, one of which is being at work. As SMoll said, deal only with the attendance and availability issues without getting into the childcare excuses. It seems logical to me that she might be told, "These are the conditions of the job that were discussed with you prior to hire. You told me and indicated on your application that you could fulfill those requirements. I explained the job to you in detail and you've not been able to perform as required or as you indicated you could do." Then in accordance with your disciplinary procedures, this might be your step 1. Just my thoughts.

HR in Okla · January 2004

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-02-04 AT 02:03PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Boy, is this a new one to me!! I think she is yanking your chain. The above advice to look at your attendance policy and her absences, regardless of the reasons, is excellent. I haven't yet researched this "new" law, and I know the legislature was working on some family-friendly legislation, so I'll be looking into it too. For now, my employees are still expected to be at work or risk termination.

Oklahoma is usually pretty conservative. I can't think of any of our employment laws that are stricter than federal.

After my initial response, I did a search for "changes in Okla. employment law." I found a good link to an attorney's website (Matthies)that gives a synopis of Okla. requirements along with links to the actual section of the law. You might check that out.

Nothing about retaining absent employees who can't find daycare, by the way.

Employee and daycare issue

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