Can an employer reduce sick time balance due to inaccurate reporting by a supervisor?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can an employer reduce sick time balance due to inaccurate reporting by a supervisor?
I have worked at the same company for 10 years. We accrue 10 sick days per year. It was my supervisor’s responsibility to report sick time to H.R. on a monthly basis for the first 9 years of my employment, at which time it became my responsibility. During the first 9 years, my supervisor neglected to report sick time used, leaving me with a large balance of unused sick time. At present, I am about to take paternity leave and my supervisor has just reported my sick time for the past 9 years, and H.R. has accepted this report, which has decimated my balance. Is this legal? What is my recourse?
Asked on March 2, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Connecticut
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
What you describe is legal, assuming the reduction is factually correct--that is, that they took out the amount of previously unreported time and no more. A mistake on the part of an employer in accounting for use of sick time does not entitle the employee to more sick leave; nothing in the law prevents an employer from correcting the mistake after the fact. If you should have had the time debited earlier, then the company is not taking away anything you earned or had a right to--it is simply correcting a mistake.
(Consider: if the company had accidentally taken away too much sick time in the past, then if you discovered that mistake, they'd have to credit you back for the mistakes--the same principle applies in reverse when you were the beneficiary of a mistake.)
Certainly if you believe the company is taking too much time now, you can challenge their accounting--they can only take away as much time as should have been deducted in the past.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.