Are employers legally bound to allow you time off for doctor's appointments?

[We_are_Bama]

In the state of Alabama, does the employee have any recourse is the employer forbids them from being away from work to see a doctor? My employer is being highly unreasonable in not allowing me to miss as little as two hours for a doctor's appointment. Now, it's too late to cancel the appointment without being hit with a HUGE cancellation fee. My employer said that the appointment and any medical issues I am having are not their problem and asked me to tend to it either after work or on the weekend. On the weekend? Really? Can I hold their feet to the fire in any legal manner,or am I just out of luck on this one?

 

[Catfish]

I think I used to work for that company. I don't know what the law says, but that's ridiculous.

 

[We_are_Bama]

Yup. Looks like I'm screwed either way. I'm either going to get fired, or fined.

 

[TexasBama]

Who do you work for? Just asking so I don't accidentally do business with these cretins.

 

[We_are_Bama]

Who do you work for? Just asking so I don't accidentally do business with these cretins.

A community college in the Birmingham,AL area.

 

[chanson78]

A community college in the Birmingham,AL area.

Do you have personal time off leave that you can take? How about sick leave? If you call in sick that day, and get a doctors excuse they may not want to pursue it. I am not positive on this so do not utilize my advice if you think your boss/employer is vindictive enough to take action.

A cursory google search brought up several laws, but they were all at the state level and not in Alabama.

Have you thought about finding another job? Because working at a place like that would seem to be so stressful as to exacerbate any health issues.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

A community college in the Birmingham,AL area.

this sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. this isn't Nazi Germany (at least I almost sure it isn't). If my current job even tried to tell me that, I would have left that same day. I would rather work at Home Depot than deal with that kind of bullying. The time of for doctor's appointment should be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Disclaimer I am not a lawyer.

 

[Tide1986]

Most normal employers have paid-time-off policies that allow employees to use paid time off for medical appointments and the like. You should review your employer's time-away-from-work policy in your employee handbook. Maybe you simply have an incompetent manager.

 

[gman4tide]

A community college in the Birmingham,AL area.

So, your're an employee of the state? My wife is an employee of the state and gets "x" number of sick days a year. They can't deny use of sick days (if you have them built). Same with personal days. Just my $.02..

 

[TexasBama]

A community college in the Birmingham,AL area.

IMO it's time to cue Johnny Paycheck.

 

[cbi1972]

Call 6 On Your Side!

 

[AlexanderFan]

Get doctor's excuses and take your chance. Prove you were going to the doctor to be treated and I don't think human resources will want to tangle with you. Is this your supervisor saying this? Maybe you should contact HR department if you have one.

 

[We_are_Bama]

Do you have personal time off leave that you can take? How about sick leave? If you call in sick that day, and get a doctors excuse they may not want to pursue it. I am not positive on this so do not utilize my advice if you think your boss/employer is vindictive enough to take action.

A cursory google search brought up several laws, but they were all at the state level and not in Alabama.

Have you thought about finding another job? Because working at a place like that would seem to be so stressful as to exacerbate any health issues.

I have quite a bit of time built up. They just, (for some reason) are not approving it. It's only for 2 hours on top of that. I don't know what their deal is. I pointed out that I have time accumulated and they said that while that is my time, it can only be used at their discretion. They also informed me that they were not breaking any laws by disallowing me to be away from work, no matter what the reason. I've been there for many years, and while getting time away from work has never been an easy task, it has never been quite this difficult either. Especially when it came to doctor's appointments. I was told by a co-worker, who is most likely just speculating that things were changing and the employees were not going to be getting a lot of the things we have been getting up until now. Like paid time off, etc. Even if that's the case, I can't see why they won't allow me to even take two hours off without pay.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

First thing you need to do is refer to your employee handbook and review time off policies. If you work for the government you should have built in sick days or personal days. If not then you need to start asking a lot of questions to someone higher up on the food chain than your boss.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I have quite a bit of time built up. They just, (for some reason) are not approving it. It's only for 2 hours on top of that. I don't know what their deal is. I pointed out that I have time accumulated and they said that while that is my time, it can only be used at their discretion. They also informed me that they were not breaking any laws by disallowing me to be away from work, no matter what the reason. I've been there for many years, and while getting time away from work has never been an easy task, it has never been quite this difficult either. Especially when it came to doctor's appointments. I was told by a co-worker, who is most likely just speculating that things were changing and the employees were not going to be getting a lot of the things we have been getting up until now. Like paid time off, etc. Even if that's the case, I can't see why they won't allow me to even take two hours off without pay.

Time to be looking for another job bro. Quick.

 

[OreBama]

Does the Family Medical Leave Act cover that?

I would think that it does. One does have to be employed 12 months by employer for FMLA to apply.

 

[chanson78]

I would think that it does. One does have to be employed 12 months by employer for FMLA to apply.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/

Employee Notice 29CFR825.302
Eligible employees seeking to use FMLA leave may be required to provide:
30-day advance notice of the need to take FMLA leave when the need is foreseeable;

Due to the above, I doubt FMLA would help anyways.

FMLA is all about unpaid time off for a medical emergency. This is a gray area because he has already told his supervisor that he needs time off for a Dr. Appt, so it would be tough to prove emergency, especially since he just wants to take time off he has already earned.

I am with all the others here who have suggested you look at the employee handbook. However I would be cautious because if you use regulations to go against your dictator of a boss' wishes, you could create someone who would definitely have a grudge. Granted its not like they are behaving as a benevolent actor anyways.

 

[Bodhisattva]

Ok, I can help with this.

1. Schedule your doctor's appointment for anytime other than early morning.
2. Go to work.
3. Complain about feeling sick and how you wish your boss would allow you to go to the doctor.
4. Shortly thereafter vomit in front of everyone (preferably with the boss present).
5. Repeat Step 4 until you're allowed to leave.

You're welcome.

 

[jthomas666]

Ok, I can help with this.

1. Schedule your doctor's appointment for anytime other than early morning.
2. Go to work.
3. Complain about feeling sick and how you wish your boss would allow you to go to the doctor.
4. Shortly thereafter vomit in front of everyone (preferably with the boss present).
5. Repeat Step 4 until you're allowed to leave.

You're welcome.

"I can't believe I threw up in front of Dean Wormer."
"Face it Kent--you threw up ON Dean Wormer."

 

[We_are_Bama]

Well, it looks like I am not alone. Another employee told me a little while ago, "if it's any consolation, several other people are raising you-know-what about not having their time off requests approved either". So, it looks like the bosses are about to have an angry mob on their hands! As for the time off issue, I don't know what is up with that all of a sudden. One guy was so angry, he just got in his car and left for the day. He shouted "I'm going home sick for the day, and you can pay me or not, but if you chose the latter, you people WILL hear from my lawyer!". Honestly, I think this is just another sign that the ship is sinking. I keep hearing more and more that paid time off at my job is about to be a thing of the past. I didn't know that it meant right now.