Question: “I’m wondering how other companies handle this situation: A worker is out on vacation leave (paid) and she gets sick during some of the vacation. Do companies allow employees to exchange those vacation days for sick days and let the worker take the vacation days another time?” — Belinda
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I agree with the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement…since it makes good sense, and would seem to also indicate good business acumen. Anyone feel differently???
I have been in the retail industry my entire career and the policy has always stated that if you become ill while on vacation it cannot be changed. I believe this is because of the nature of the business, however I personally feel that if you become seriously ill and your immediate manager approves of the change then it should be ok. Fortunately I have not become ill while on vacation, let’s hope it stays that way.
If your are talking about a cold vs surgery – it’s apples and oranges.
Thank God for my employer! This recently happened to me and I was allowed to switch my vacation days to sick days. Our company’s line of thinking on many issues is that they hired adults whom they trust. Certainly there are people out there who would abuse the trust, but those people usually cheat the company in other (often obvious) ways and the boss already “have their number.”
With the organization I work for, if an employee becomes sick while on vacation they would need to inform their supervisor and then also bring in a doctor’s note then sick time is used instead of vacation and the employee can then use the vacation at a later date. If an employee does not show a doctor’s note then vacation time will still be used.
With the organization I work for, our sick time and vacation time are in one bank. The sick time would be counted just as the vacation time would be. If you are sick longer than three days, it comes out of a different bank, but most vacations are only a week and in most cases, you are only sick for a couple of days. With regard to my time, it really would not matter. Mark is right…just bad timing!
I am in a company with unionized employees. It is written in the Collective Agreement that, if an employee becomes ill or is injured while on vacation, the employee has the right to cancel the vacation until a later date. If it’s a brief illness for only part of the vacation, they can resume the vacation, or reschedule it if the illness runs longer than the vacation.
The idea is to inform your boss right away and not wait until you return to work. Hope this helps.
Sick pay is intended to pay someone if they cannot work when they are sick. If they are on vacation, then they are not missing work due to the sickness. They were already missing work. I myself have been sick several times over the years on vacation days. It’s just bad timing.
Sounds fair to trade if you’re really sick. I would ask for a note from their doctor if they’re expecting to swap vacation to sick. Have you checked with your HR dept to see if they have rules established for this?
Belinda,
Our company would only do it if it was a serious illness, not for a cold or other minor ailment. As a matter of fact, a few years ago I was off for holiday vacation and I actually got the flu so bad I was hospitalized for three (3) days. My boss put my in for vacation and let me carryover the three (3) missed vacation days.
Hope this helps.
It’s unfortunate when someone becomes ill or is injured while on vacation, but if the time was scheduled as vacation, it should not be changed to sick days.
If the employee is unable to complete his/her vacation plans for reasons of illness or unable to get to the vacation (snowed in), then the vacation is returned to be used later. However, if the employee is on vacation, enjoying themselves, then that is unfortunate but no change will be made to their vacation.