What if company policy as stated in the employee handbook conflicts with state law?
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What if company policy as stated in the employee handbook conflicts with state law?
I have questions regarding employees rights. I recently just received this years handbook and compared it to last years handbook. I notice there are a lot of changes and more stricter policies that does not seem fair. For examples. It is stating in the previous hand book that if you are out for 3 or more days due to illness then you will have to bring in a doctor’s note. Now in the new handbook it states that if you miss 1 day that you will have to submit a doctor’s note. That is not correct based off of state aw. I feel as if the handbook is based off the company’s own polices which could lead to legal matters. I want to make sure my rights are protected as an employee. What should be done at this point?
Asked on February 23, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
No company policy can violate state law; state law overrules company policy (or, for that matter, contracts, including employment contacts, and including also the "implied contracts" sometimes found to be created by employee handbooks). Note, though, that it is NOT the case that state law has to specifically authorize a company to do something, as a general matter; rather, a company's actions or policies are typically legal unless actually against or banned by law. Note also 1) a company is not bound to follow the same policy(ies) as it has in the past--it may change them, even radically; and 2) fairness is completely irrelevant.
Therefore, unless state law specifically makes it illegal to ask for a doctor's note after 1 day, the company could do this
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