I am attempting to reclaim 8 hours of benefit time, when my company asked me to stay home due to a known Covid exposure. I never got sick, but have been coming into the office every day since the one I was “off”, as long as I do a temperature log.
They are telling me that “Earned benefit time will be used for any time away from the site during normal business hours. This is the same process we use if we have to close a site unexpectantly due to community unrest, inclement weather, full site COVID closure, power outages, etc.”
When I asked them to provide a policy about compelling me to use my benefit time when I didn't request it, they pointed me to the Leave of Absence policy. When I pressed them about how that doesn't apply to me, they agreed “Yes, that the policy doesn't reflect your situation”, since I never requested a leave (and was consequently never approved for leave by HR).
It seems ridiculous to me that, due to a power outage or a snowstorm, my company can compel employees to use their benefit time. Is this standard, or should I rope HR into the emails??