Archived LOD questioning a callout

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B26

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I had to call out this morning (My Dad is sick and I'm going up to visit him) and I called out this morning and did not want to get into detail so I simply told them "something came up".

The new LOD, who is a complete hot head/full of herself started questioning me and asking me what came up. I told her that I had to go visit my dad and she told me to give more notice next time.

I don't think it was really right for her to question me like that. I've been here 13 months and this is my 3rd call-out. I have good attendance. I could understand her questioning me if this was something I did often but I felt it was rude and a unnecessary.
 
Did your dad very suddenly fall very ill? Is he in the hospital or otherwise unable to take care of himself?

If not, I agree with your LOD. Give them a bit more notice.
 
They are trying to access if your call out is legit or a poor excuse.
 
People that don't call out a lot are questioned more than those that do.
 
Did your dad very suddenly fall very ill? Is he in the hospital or otherwise unable to take care of himself?

If not, I agree with your LOD. Give them a bit more notice.

Fully agree with that. Unless it was a sudden or unexpected, it should be treated the same as a vacation or personal day.
 
Did your dad very suddenly fall very ill? Is he in the hospital or otherwise unable to take care of himself?

If not, I agree with your LOD. Give them a bit more notice.

Bull sh**. This is one of the few areas that TM's actually have target by the balls legally.

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires that companies let employees leave work (or not go to work) for family medical issues. If a TM has a family member in a serious medical situation, that TM can give one second notice and Target can't touch them. Would it have been nice if the TM gave more notice? Sure. But we don't know the details of the situation or how long this TM knew himself. In any case, the TM is under no legal obligation to provide more notice, and Target is legally required to let the TM off work with zero negative consequences to the TM.

To the OP - hopefully that ETL shut her mouth the moment you told her it was a family medical issue, because if she started trying to pressure you to go to work or implying it would hurt your employment standing in any way, you now have the right to sue under FMLA. Considering Target hires art history majors to run stores (instead of business majors as would be logical), chances are she has never heard of FMLA.
 
emergencies are emergencies, they come up suddenly, you cant predict them, and you sure as hell cant give more of a notice, your ETL is full of shit for doing that.
 
Did your dad very suddenly fall very ill? Is he in the hospital or otherwise unable to take care of himself?

If not, I agree with your LOD. Give them a bit more notice.

Bull sh**. This is one of the few areas that TM's actually have target by the balls legally.

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires that companies let employees leave work (or not go to work) for family medical issues. If a TM has a family member in a serious medical situation, that TM can give one second notice and Target can't touch them. Would it have been nice if the TM gave more notice? Sure. But we don't know the details of the situation or how long this TM knew himself. In any case, the TM is under no legal obligation to provide more notice, and Target is legally required to let the TM off work with zero negative consequences to the TM.

To the OP - hopefully that ETL shut her mouth the moment you told her it was a family medical issue, because if she started trying to pressure you to go to work or implying it would hurt your employment standing in any way, you now have the right to sue under FMLA. Considering Target hires art history majors to run stores (instead of business majors as would be logical), chances are she has never heard of FMLA.

The fmla is for when you have to care for someone who is sick. That is entirely different than visiting someone who is sick. There is a difference here.
 
Don't let them intimidate you.
Unless you make a habit of calling out, they don't have the right to quiz you like that.
I understand an LODs frustration if they had a bunch of call outs that day and you were the icing on the cake but that's not your problem.
 
Thanks for the replies.

My Dad did not become suddenly ill, but he has been ill for a while and things got a bit worse this morning and I wanted to be there for him.

I didn't like the way the new ETL/LOD questioned me and was very rude. If they confront me about it tomorrow, i'll just be strait up and tell them my Dad has cancer and things took a bad turn yesterday and I wanted to be there for him. I honestly can't imagine them giving me shit for that, especially considering my otherwise good attendance and positive attitude.

I also thought there was a law/act that refused employers from questioning a call out, and that's why I posted this. Thanks for all the replies and for those who care, my dad is feeling a lot better.
 
I could be wrong, but I think they can question a call-out, but not when they ask you to come in or stay late.
 
A LOD just needs to receive the call before your shift. They should not question you over the phone. Your TL or ETL should follow up on the call out the next time you come to work.
 
Did your dad very suddenly fall very ill? Is he in the hospital or otherwise unable to take care of himself?

If not, I agree with your LOD. Give them a bit more notice.

Bull sh**. This is one of the few areas that TM's actually have target by the balls legally.

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires that companies let employees leave work (or not go to work) for family medical issues. If a TM has a family member in a serious medical situation, that TM can give one second notice and Target can't touch them. Would it have been nice if the TM gave more notice? Sure. But we don't know the details of the situation or how long this TM knew himself. In any case, the TM is under no legal obligation to provide more notice, and Target is legally required to let the TM off work with zero negative consequences to the TM.

To the OP - hopefully that ETL shut her mouth the moment you told her it was a family medical issue, because if she started trying to pressure you to go to work or implying it would hurt your employment standing in any way, you now have the right to sue under FMLA. Considering Target hires art history majors to run stores (instead of business majors as would be logical), chances are she has never heard of FMLA.

The fmla is for when you have to care for someone who is sick. That is entirely different than visiting someone who is sick. There is a difference here.

<sigh> Yes, the FMLA would also cover caring for someone who is sick, among other things. The FMLA is hundreds of pages long and covers many situations. It does not only cover caring for family that is sick as in physically providing services for them only.

I see, once again, I am going to have to quote from official government websites to make a point about labor law on this forum.

"The most common serious health conditions that qualify for FMLA leave are:
conditions requiring an overnight stay in a hospital or other medical care facility;
conditions that incapacitate you or your family member (for example, unable to work or attend school) for more than three consecutive days and have ongoing medical treatment (either multiple appointments with a health care provider, or a single appointment and follow-up care such as prescription medication);
chronic conditions that cause occasional periods when you or your family member are incapacitated and require treatment by a health care provider at least twice a year; and
pregnancy (including prenatal medical appointments, incapacity due to morning sickness, and medically required bed rest)."

Notice the bolded text applies to this TMs situation.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/fmla-faqs.htm

Here are some non-government sites about FMLA covering visiting family the hospital

"Eligible employees can use FMLA time “to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child or parent) with a serious health condition.” The pertinent regulations say that “caring” for a family member encompasses both physical and psychological care.

That includes situations in which, because of a serious health condition, a family member can’t care for his or her own basic medical, hygienic or nutritional needs, or is unable to transport himself or herself to the doctor, etc. It also includes providing psychological comfort and reassurance to the person receiving inpatient or home care. As such, your employee may use FMLA time to provide psychological comfort (i.e., to visit) a spouse in the ICU."

(note the word "inpatient" above - i.e. hospitalized)

http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/3028/does-fmla-cover-emotional-care-of-spouse-in-icu


"FMLA lets workers take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave:
When the worker can't work because of a serious health condition
To care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition. Caring for a person includes bathing, feeding, transporting to the doctor, or giving support to a family member (like staying with them while they're in the hospital or to arrange their care). Immediate family members are:"

http://www.canmybossdothat.com/category.php?id=114
 
The only time I was questioned was when I had bronchitis. The LOD asked me if I had seen my doctor (It was the 2nd day in a row). I said no and she told me that bronchitis was going around in the store. I made an appointment right after I got off the phone and that was what I had. This was just a caring question so I really didn't mind.
 
You must apply for FMLA and be granted coverage before it can be used to protect you from typical attendance consequences. The team member must also have worked for at least 12 months, and 1,250 hours within those 12 months.


And I agree, the particular LOD that answered your call handled the whole situation inappropriately. When we deal with callouts PDA prompts us to enter a reason for the callout. The LOD probably didn't understand that it isn't appropriate for her to probe for more personal informaiton. Talk to your ETL-HR and if nothing changes, call the hotline.
 
I've called out once in 15 months on a non truck day, I got huffed and puffed at on the phone by the most incompetent TL at our store. Guy is such a chode.

I mean when I ran my own construction crew and a guy who never missed work called out I would at least be a bit genuinely concerned and ask whats up ya know? Not grunt in the phone about whose going to pull autofills and that there is a 2 hour hole in the backroom that had nothing to do with me anyway. If I didn't need this job right now that conversation would have went very differently I think.
 
You must apply for FMLA and be granted coverage before it can be used to protect you from typical attendance consequences. The team member must also have worked for at least 12 months, and 1,250 hours within those 12 months.


And I agree, the particular LOD that answered your call handled the whole situation inappropriately. When we deal with callouts PDA prompts us to enter a reason for the callout. The LOD probably didn't understand that it isn't appropriate for her to probe for more personal informaiton. Talk to your ETL-HR and if nothing changes, call the hotline.

Thank you. SOT is assuming the employee has met the eligibility requirements. SOT is also assuming the OP has not already exhausted their FMLA. If you're out of FMLA, Target (or any company) has no legal obligation to honor any additional time off.
 
They can absolutely question your call-out.. it's just not very "Target" of them to do so. "Work-life balance", etc. Sometimes things DO come up. But, the way you phrased it might have made them think that something came up like "oh! Jamie wants to get lunch!", etc. They might have just wanted to make sure you were aware that even though calling out isn't a GIANT deal, it still has to be for a legitimate reason, because you're leaving all of your work with the rest of your team.
 
They can absolutely question your call-out.. it's just not very "Target" of them to do so. "Work-life balance", etc. Sometimes things DO come up. But, the way you phrased it might have made them think that something came up like "oh! Jamie wants to get lunch!", etc. They might have just wanted to make sure you were aware that even though calling out isn't a GIANT deal, it still has to be for a legitimate reason, because you're leaving all of your work with the rest of your team.

Target life is not like when you were in school. Bringing in a doctors note doesn't excuse it. My point is it doesn't matter WHY you called in.
If they give you a hard time though, and you don't do it frequently; They are in the wrong.
 
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