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It's sad that this person's mother has cancer. However, life happens. The policy is already broad for a reason. I think it's acceptable to only offer extra time off (over 30 days) for sick spouses and children. That's the immediate family.
Where do we draw the line? If we add parents, why not other relatives? Why not friends or pets?
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That's silly. Parents are demonstrably different than friends or pets, and if you cannot understand that you have no business making decisions or policy at all.
If you are really worried about the slippery slope, you can always tie company policy to an external benchmark. In this case, company policy could cover the same family members as FMLA, which does include parents. But not pets.
On one hand, it's business and they need someone to fill that position. On the other hand, it's a heartless move. Pick one.
The OP cited a part timer in a company of 375 people. They can easily fill the position so that the work gets done, then do a bit of shuffling when the person is ready to come back. They simply don't replace the next PT person who quits.
With a staff of 375, there is always going to be some turnover.
Strange that a parent isn't considered immediate family since all the companies I have worked for allows bereavement leave for employees that includes the death of parents, children and spouses.
Kind of a jacked up move to fire your employee during a family crisis, but not surprising.
I can understand the company's position ... but perhaps letting the person know that they would be considered for rehire (if a position was open) whenever they were available to return to work, would go a long way.
I'm going to ask a few questions, and as someone who has been through some serious illnesses, including cancer, I'm not asking this to be insensitive. Does the employee really need to take a whole month off? If this person is a part time employee, can they not juggle doctor's appointments, chemo, etc, around their work schedule? Are there no friends or family that can assist? Does the parent need constant care? I assume hospice is not an option, so can a home health nurse be hired and paid out of pocket?
I had many of the same questions - especially if the parent lives in the same town and the employee is only part time...I feel like there would be options of help that would allow her to work.
To the poster that cited that 375 employees is more than enough to cover the employee - it really depends on the company. I worked for a company of thousands and they ended up terminating an employee because she had used all her PTO, FMLA, and plus had nearly 6 months of unpaid leave and was still dealing with health issues. But it was that 'we have to fill your position, you're welcome to reapply to any open position in the company when you are ready to come back' so I'm not sure how it affected her health insurance, ect since she wasn't "fired". We needed to hire for her position because we had SO much other turnover with employees we we constantly covering the gaps til we hired other spots. We were just permanently down one person.
That employee still thinks it was just terrible what the company did to her (she had worked there 10+ years). Does it suck? Absolutely. But from the companies standpoint, she had been given a LONG leash (close to a year of being off, well past the leave she was legally allowed) which is more than they had to do.
In this situation, you really need to talk to the employee. Obviously no one knows when her mother will pass. And not that you want to give an ultimatum, but perhaps you need to ask about the above questions (i.e can she get help so she can work, maybe with the understanding that she may need to leave suddenly). Does she do work that she could be doing from home? Could you work with her on an even more part time schedule for now? If she's just past her month of leave, let it go. If it turns into 3 months of leave...you may need to do something. Is hiring a temporary employee an option?
I work in a big company with around 275-300 employees. Everyone is entitled to a month leave of absence during the first three months of the year.
One part-time employee had a mother dying of cancer. There was no definite date set as to when she would die, so it could have taken months, maybe even longer.
Well this employee took a whole month off to care for her mother, and when she asked to extend her unpaid leave, my company basically did not give her the option of doing that. Their philosophy is basically an employee can only have unpaid undetermined leave of absence for dying spouses or children. Other close family is not allowed, even if you live with them.
Do you think this is wrong? Or would granting this employee an undetermined leave open the doors for other employees leaving to take care of close dying relatives?
What a scummy employer. I'm a manager in a small department of a much smaller employer and there is no way we would treat one of our workers so badly.
I agree.
Unfortunately, I think this is the policy of a lot of corprorate america, circa 2013.
"Humanity last, at all costs." Not to go too far off-topic, I laugh when these news/doctors shows on TV implore people to stay home when they have the flu. Yeah right . . . 90% of the people who are watching that stuff would only get time off if they actually died from the flu
On one hand, it's business and they need someone to fill that position. On the other hand, it's a heartless move. Pick one.
I kind of agree. How long should they give the person? 3 months? 6 months? A year?
Bottom line; that starts to take it's toll on your employees that ARE there every day trying to fill in for a missing co-worker.
I think there is a cut off point. One month was more than I ever got and I was a full-time manager.
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