Ok - here is the situation - I am a partner in a small office - 10 people. One of the secretaries has a husband who is *very* sick and has been *very* sick for the last 4 years. As a result - she is out of work alot - a real lot. One year we paid her for the full year (without docking her any pay) and she missed 18 weeks of work (she gets 4 weeks vacation a year). Last year, we told her we would have to stop paying her when she was out after her vacation time was used up -- her absences dropped to only about 7 weeks total (4 weeks vacation and 3 weeks unpaid).
Anyway - her husband is starting to feel better so they decided to take a 1 week vacation last week to visit her son down South (a plane ride away).
On Monday the 2nd - the first day of her vacation out of the office we had a huge Nor'Easter with over a foot of snow so the night before - my other partners and I talked and decided to close the office - we called the employees and told them that due to the snow we were probably closing the office. That morning we called everyone and told them to watch the weather and if it was safe to come in around noon or so to do that. Several of the partners came in but the other secretary (we have 2) did not.
So fast forward to today - the vacationing secretary's first day back was supposed to be yesterday but she was sick. So today is her first day back. For what its worth, she told us via email (from her vacation) that she would be out tomorrow for a 1/2 day cause husband has a doctor's appointment, and would be out all day Thursday (he is having minor surgery) and would be out 1/2 day Friday to pick him up at the hospital.
So anyway - she comes in to see me to ask if we were closed last Monday for the snow storm because she saw someone's time card that said "snow day". I told her that the office was open but we advised employees to use their discretion in coming in and I named those people that did come in. She says well secretary X didn't come in - I said that was true.
So now, even though she was out on vacation, she feels that since we had a snow day and the other secretary did not come in - it does not cost her a vacation day.
Personally, I disagree with her - I think that the issue is that you were out - you told the office you were unavailable and were going on vacation - the fact that something came up that day to alter who was in the office and/or closing early for snow (including the other secretary exercising the discretion we told her to exercise and deciding she did not want to drive in the snow and therefore did not come in) doesn't mean you get the benefit of the snow day instead of using a vacation day.
I kind of look at it like you had to be available and ready to work that day to get the benefit of the snow day. What if everyone had come in and we closed the office at 10am - does that mean she shouldn't have to take a vacation day that day because we closed early -- or should have only had to use 1 hour of vacation time instead of a whole day?
I really think that if you were on vacation - you don't get the benefit of the snow day - what do you guys think?
