What to do if I was fired for being out sick?
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What to do if I was fired for being out sick?
I went to work and got sick. I was taken to the hospital and admitted for 3 days. I called my job and told my boss that I couldn’t go back to work until the doctor said yes. So 2 weeks later, with doctors note in hand, I headed back to work but was informed that I had been fired.
Asked on December 13, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, New Jersey
Answers:
M.D., Member, California and New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Unless you had a union agreement or employment contract that provided that you could not be fired under the circumstances, or your termination violated the terms of company policy, or some form of actionable discrimination play a role in your discharge, then you have no legal recourse.
The fact is that an "at will" employee you may be fired at any time, for any reason; this includes seemingly unfair reasons. Contrary to what most employees believe to be the law, there is no general legal right to take time off from work for being sick.
Note: If you had sick days or other PTO that you could have used but did not, that itself could be enough to cause your termination.
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