Can you be fired for not calling in while having medical tests done?
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Can you be fired for not calling in while having medical tests done?
I had to have a follow up medical tests done. I informed my boss I would be out and why. She wanted me to call her in-between tests which was impossible because I was unable. Even though I had a doctor’s note and when I returned to work the following day she fired me because I didn’t call. She was upset because I was out 8 days over a doctors note 2 weeks prior and I did call she knew my dates I was out she wanted me to call her during those days to have a conversation with her. Yet per my doctor she said as long as my job is aware I’m out under my doctor’s care I don’t have to call-in during that time.
Asked on December 20, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, North Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The problem is, unless you have an employment contract guarantying your the right to be out for doctor's visits or per a doctor's note, then a company is not obligated to let you take time out for this--unless that is, you and the company and both covered under FMLA leave and you took it as FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) leave. So without using FMLA leave (or the state equivalent, if your state has its own leave act). Without FMLA or employment contract protection, your employer may put any restrictions on you taking time out for doctor's visits that he or she wants--and if you don't comply with those restrictions, he or she may terminate you.
You doctor has no authority to say what your company can or cannot do, and a company is not obligated as a general matter to respect a doctor's note. The doctor does not work for the company and cannot authorize absences. There are some narrow exceptions--if your condition rises to the level of being an actual disability under the law; if your injury was caused by work--where the company has to accomodate your medical needs at least in part, but those are narrow exceptions.
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