Attendance Point System and Absences for Illness
by Maria
(WI)
I have recently gotten fired from my job of 6 years in WI. They went by a point system and once you're at 10 points, they let you go. I have filed for unemployment benefits but I was denied and they said the reason was attendance. However, most of my points were accumulated by coming in late or leaving early, due to an illness. I used to have FMLA but the last time I requested to renew it, my employer made me go back and forth to my doctor several times with documents for her to fill out; in the end, they still did not approve it. Instead of continuing to fight for it, I decided to just deal with it because I couldn't afford to keep racking up all these medical bills. Unfortunately, I do not have any of those documents in my possession. In the process, that is how I accumulated most of my points. I rarely missed whole days of work; I left if I was feeling ill or I came in late once I felt better. I just filed an appeal and i am now waiting on a hearing date. Do you think I will win?
Hi Maria,
Attendance point systems that do not account for things such as absences deemed to be beyond the employee's control, don't make a lot of sense except they tend to help the employer enforce a policy, uniformly without the necessity to use reason.
But unemployment insurance law, does not disregard the importance of being reasonable when assigning fault for a separation.
I do suggest you go to your doctor and try to get some documentation that proves the times you were gone were for a legitimate illness and especially for the final absence that precipitated the discharge.
A good rule of thumb for employees is to follow the lead of very smart employers .. never get caught because you don't have any documentation making the whole unemployment appeal hearing a he said/she said affair and forcing the hearing officer to make a "credibility decision".
Chris
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