Can an employer send an employee home for a family leave without the employee request it?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can an employer send an employee home for a family leave without the employee request it?
My wife was sent home by the employer. Just before she went home, the manager took her to the office and said that,
Asked on July 1, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
Yes, they can: the employer, not employee, determines when an employee may work, and can schedule them to not work put them on leave, suspend them, or even terminate them at will. (That is, so long as you don't have a written employment contract preventing this; if you do, you can enforce your rights under the contract, including by a lawsuit for "breach of contract" if necessary.)
So the employer can put her on leave. At some point, if they will not return her to work or even give her a firm and reasonable deadline for her return, she could consider herself to have been terminated and apply for unemployment benefits; termination can be by action (not letting an employee return to work) as well as in words (e.g. saying "you're fired").
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.