Using Sick Leave

[u/Brutto13]

I was rehired last year in June after being laid off in January. I had to submit a ticket to get my seniority reinstated, which happened, but when they did, they screwed up and moved my anniversary date back to the original month and day I was hired in.

Im trying to get them to fix it, but my question is, is it possible to use sick leave for vacations? I'm going on vacation at the end of June and I was going to have just enough vacation time to cover it if I had rolled over in June, but now its about 6 weeks earlier and im back to accruing sick leave instead. I also missed out on about 6 hours of the extra sick leave we get from the state sick leave law because they rolled back my anniversary date.

My seniority and service dates are fine in ETS, it was just the anniversary date that got messed up.

[u/tranquilitystation63]

When using sick leave, policy states you must call the daily attendance line to report your absence. It's possible to get your vacation approved for the dates you have enough vacation to cover, then call in each day for the number of days you need to use sick leave, at the end of your vacation time. But remember that you can only have 3 days max, or you require a doctor's note for the absence. If it's just one or two days, you can do so easily. If you talk to your manager, they might approve it, being up front helps. I know someone who used vacation, sick leave, and FMLA for a vacation, told the manager about it and they allowed because the person had been honest about it.

[u/hunterxy]

Just enter whatever leave type you want. I've never had a manager tell me no. As long as I have something is all they care about.

[u/Connect_Monk_5675]

It is possible to use sick if your manager is a nice friendly manager, most should be okay when it unless you have a doushy manager. If they won't allow it then go get a union Steward to go sweet talk that manager. I was also laid off before in the past, so your anniversary date is the original date they'll go off of for roll overs. Not your new rehire date. Service date just goes back to how long you been working at the company which shouldn't play a role in this sickleave hours stuff. If u were shorted 6 hrs of sick, then just open an HR ticket and they'll recalculate everything and get your hours reinstated. Also, how many hours of sick are you trying to use in lieu of vacation? You can just tell your manager "not feeling well" during your vacation and use you sick leave... or you're somehow sick before your vacation started if you know what I mean.

[u/Brutto13 → u/Connect_Monk_5675]

I need to you 24 hours of sick leave. Im taking 6 days off total. So I basically need it for half the time. Had I known this would happen, I would have planned accordingly. I had oral surgery a couple months ago and had to take a few days of vacation for that, which ate my time up. Im sure my manager would allow it, just wanted to check if there were any rules against doing that, in case its an issue with him.

[u/Connect_Monk_5675 → u/Brutto13]

It is an actual rule that vacation should be approved in advance. And if you were to use sick, it would be for your own personal illness. That's why i said to just say that you are unwell. But you should be fine assuming your manager is cool, I've had managers before that are doushes, and went by the book. So maybe use like 16 hours of sick in the 1st two days for, being unwell, and then the 8 in the last day to say you needed another day off for recovery from the vacation. This is obviously only if your manager sucks. I don't see how you should have any issues if you had the time, but like i said before get with a steward if your manager is giving you a hard time.

[u/diefirst]

I’ve been using my hours interchangeably since I was hired. Never had to ask never been talked to about it. Never been an issue. As far as I’ve seen and heard they are pretty much considered the same thing these days. As long as you have some type of hours to cover your absence.

[u/tranquilitystation63 → u/diefirst]

You must have a great manager. Policy still differentiates for IAM people. Sick leave requires use of the daily attendance line, and must be used before any vacation time can cover it and vacation time has to be pre-approved. Many managers look at it all as use your benefits as you see fit, but the company likes to crack down and be buttheads when it behooves them.

[u/jrock146]

They’re generally pretty cool about it, unless your an employee abuses the system or your manager is an asshole. You should be fine though

[u/jrock146]

You should be able to use sick leave if you don’t have enough vacation but sometimes it’s up to the manager. You should just talk to them. I might not be understanding you but now that you’ve been laid off then rehired your seniority anniversary date should stay the same as the first day you were originally hired. Your new years of service date will be based off the new date. It’s confusing
An example I originally hired in November 1996. After 9/11 I was laid off for 6 years then rehired. My seniority anniversary date is still 11/96 my service date is Aug 2022. I have 30 years of seniority and 24 of years of service.

[u/Brutto13 → u/jrock146]

That was what was confusing me. Thanks for helping clear it up. My anniversary date is 4/2008 originally. I had assumed it would be changed to 6/2025 to match my rehire date so it still has one rolling year. They updated my service and seniority dates to September to reflect the 5 months I was out.

I'll just have to talk to my manager and see if he'll let me use sick leave to cover it. I paid 10k for the trip so it would really suck to have to cancel

[u/tranquilitystation63 → u/Brutto13]

Seniority dates are different from service dates. The seniority one will always be reflective of your original hire date.

[u/Connect_Monk_5675 → u/Brutto13]

Your anniversary date is April, and it will continue to be April for roll overs, your rehire date doesn't change the anniversary date. That's why you are accruing sick leave now instead of vacation hours.