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Antiwork

What can an employer legally ask for about the family emergency I called out for.

Long story short, my future mother in law cut herself pretty badly this afternoon. I was supposed to work a 2 hour shift as an extra person for closing duties, but my partner is at work 40 minutes away and I needed to take her to the ER. It’s busy and short staffed so we’re going to be here for a while. I called in, let them know what was going on, and took her to the ER. I have the PTO time to cover the shift, and company policy says no write ups unless it’s a frequent problem, you don’t have the pto to cover it or are caught lying about it. I’m obviously not lying, I have the pto, but a supervisor just texted me about “requiring proof” that I took her to the ER, meaning full discharge paperwork with visible date or a picture of the injury…


Long story short, my future mother in law cut herself pretty badly this afternoon. I was supposed to work a 2 hour shift as an extra person for closing duties, but my partner is at work 40 minutes away and I needed to take her to the ER. It’s busy and short staffed so we’re going to be here for a while. I called in, let them know what was going on, and took her to the ER. I have the PTO time to cover the shift, and company policy says no write ups unless it’s a frequent problem, you don’t have the pto to cover it or are caught lying about it. I’m obviously not lying, I have the pto, but a supervisor just texted me about “requiring proof” that I took her to the ER, meaning full discharge paperwork with visible date or a picture of the injury with me in it. Were it my visit, I would just show them the discharge papers or take a picture of the injury. But I don’t feel comfortable sharing my FMIL’s medical information like that, and I don’t want to march in where she’s getting stitches and take a picture on demand, especially when this is the first time I’ve called out in the 9 months I’ve been working with them.

Are they allowed to do this? Am I potentially risking my job if I say no?

Edit: we live in Colorado if that’s any help. I’ve worked at this place, a dentists office, for 9 months and have never called out. Left early once because I hit my head on a piece of heavy equipment and needed to be checked for a concussion. I’ve had no issues with this supervisor so far, but she is in her 60s and is a bit old fashioned.

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