Can my work take action against me for taking time off for my adjustment of status appointment

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

The only advice I think anyone can give you is to try and communicate with your boss the importance of the interview. If you're a good employee, and the manager is a decent person, they can understand life happens (you mentioned previous time off was due to a car accident, which you didn't ask for). I started communicating with my boss at work from the day we first mailed our I-129 application so he would know the upcoming obligations I would have, and he worked with me 100% when I needed to be out of the office, because he understood this is a temporary process I was going through and he respected my openness with him. If your boss ISN'T a decent person... well, I'd be looking for another job, immigration obligations aside, so I wouldn't have to work for a less-than-decent person.

 

As others have said - unless your boss decides to be more flexible with you, I think all you can do is let them know what's happening and when, make sure they understand you can't and do not plan on missing this because of the gravity of importance, and if they write you up, they write you up. Hopefully they won't  

[Isabella_NZ 54]

Just now, Illiria said:

There is a section for this kind of non immigration thread, I will ask for it to be moved there but please be aware that insinuating that someone shouldn’t post is against the tos of the site.

 

I get you are upset but there is no other answer in your case than ‘well the state law says they can get rid of you but maybe if you speak to your boss they can be understanding’.

And that's fine, if it's in the wrong place then have it moved. I figured because it was to do with my adjustment appointment I could post in here but I do not care either way. 

 

Thought this site was a safe place to post and get advice but clearly it's not.

[TBoneTX 43,124]

Thread is shifted from the "AOS from K Visas" main forum to the Working & Traveling forum -- topic is work.

-------

OP, you've received consistent advice:  convince them to work along with you on this extremely major life step.  If they're that unreasonable, and if you offer to make up the hours at other times and they refuse, chances are that your days working there are numbered.  In this excellent national economy, you should have a fine chance of finding a similar or better position -- or something "interim" until you find that new opportunity.

 

In terms of the perceived tone of the answers so far, try to recognize that people are trying to help, some more bluntly than others.  Respondents, please temper your comments because of the high-stress nature of the OP's situation .

[Marieke H 2,314]

6 minutes ago, Isabella_NZ said:

Thought this site was a safe place to post and get advice but clearly it's not.

Seems to me you got a lot of helpful advice in a very short time... Your question was answered (yes, they can fire you), and several people have shared their thoughts on how to handle this. 

[Isabella_NZ 54]

56 minutes ago, MariekeH said:

Seems to me you got a lot of helpful advice in a very short time... Your question was answered (yes, they can fire you), and several people have shared their thoughts on how to handle this. 

I was aiming that comment specifically at that person. Everyone else has been super helpful and provided me with a lot to think about.

[Ash.1101 1,755]

1 hour ago, Isabella_NZ said:

Hi all 

 

I am located in Florida and I currently work full time at a company that has told me if I take any more unapproved absences I will move onto the next stage of performance management.

 

Long story short I do not have any more leave left and it is there policy that you cannot take unpaid leave other wise I will receive a written warning. 

 

I got my appointment letter for my adjustment of status which is the end of October and I am worried I will get a verbal warning or worse yet they will try and fire me because of the absence.

 

Can they do this? Are there any laws in place that won't allow them to fire me??

 

Any help or suggestions is much appreciated.

A month should be plenty of time to let them know. You need to immediately book off that date, tell them you would like that to be one of your days off for the week and try to negotiate.

Note that usually a written warning isn't grounds for firing. My company has a 9 step process, at step 6 (six occurrences/absences within a year) you get a written warning. At step 7, you're put on a 35 rating and you can't have any no call no shows, but you can miss ONE more day. At Step 8 if you don't come in for any reason then you will move to a Step 9 which is termination.

I would inquire about the HR processes in your company. While it is an at will state, some companies have standards that make it so THEY can't actually get rid of someone until XY and Z occur. I would first let your manager know about your need to have that day off (or even just time off that day if you think you can do that), and then I would recommend contacting HR about their processes and policies.
 

[Isabella_NZ 54]

1 hour ago, Ash.1101 said:

A month should be plenty of time to let them know. You need to immediately book off that date, tell them you would like that to be one of your days off for the week and try to negotiate.

Note that usually a written warning isn't grounds for firing. My company has a 9 step process, at step 6 (six occurrences/absences within a year) you get a written warning. At step 7, you're put on a 35 rating and you can't have any no call no shows, but you can miss ONE more day. At Step 8 if you don't come in for any reason then you will move to a Step 9 which is termination.

I would inquire about the HR processes in your company. While it is an at will state, some companies have standards that make it so THEY can't actually get rid of someone until XY and Z occur. I would first let your manager know about your need to have that day off (or even just time off that day if you think you can do that), and then I would recommend contacting HR about their processes and policies.
 

Thank you I really appreciate your response. 

[milimelo 4,220]

Read the employee handbook so you know what’s permissible and what is not. Then work within those constraints. 

[Unlockable 7,306]

Witnessing it now with a coworker of mine.

 

High level summary of what has happened:

• He has been in the US for 2 years on a work visa. He is from India.
• He is contracted (1 year) and transferred to our company beginning of this year, Feb 2018.
• When he transferred, he moved from West coast to East coast
• The transferred affected him greatly as he struggled with getting adjusted (finding a place to stay, school for his daughter, his car even broke down)
• He had to miss a lot of days (there were also performance issues also but nothing we couldn't work through)
• Last month he put in a request for 2.5 months off. (This is not a typo. Yes, an entire 2 and a half months) from October to December.
  • Apparently some big event is taking place in his home country with his family.
• He thought he could get the 2 months off paid since he has been accruing vacation time for the last two years. He also thought he could take it all at once.
• Management informed him they will only pay for 2 weeks (company standard leave for paid vacation) and the rest would be leave without pay.
• Anyway, management eventually decided to cut its loss and have informed him that he can continue working until his contract is up (December 31st) but his services is no longer needed after that.

So to answer you question OP, yes, if excessive absence happens with a worker, a company can terminate them. As you can see with my coworker he is now going to take time off only to return to pack up his things and be unemployed.

 

It sucks but a company is not legal obligated to give an employee work flexibility unless it is medical related.

[CEE53147 559]

Were you injured in the accident?  How long were you out?  Is your paid time off both vacation and sick leave?  Do you have short term disability?

[Jaquelly 1,647]

I would go above your manager and speak to HR, frankly. Yes, they can fire you. It's up to them if they want to or not. However, if you speak to HR, you can make it clear that this is something that you NEED to be able to move forward in the immigration process and there was no way to foresee when the appointment was.

 

With that being said, perhaps try to toughen up when you ask for advice. Most of us ARE Americans, after all. We don't hold back and we will tell you how it is, even if it's not done in the nicest way possible.

[Umka36 781]

Just tell them if you cannot make it for the AOS interview, then you can no longer work and legally stay in the US. I would contact HR and explain your immigration situation. They can't be that dense.

[Ketsuban 1,034]

1 hour ago, Jaquelly said:

I would go above your manager and speak to HR, frankly. Yes, they can fire you. It's up to them if they want to or not. However, if you speak to HR, you can make it clear that this is something that you NEED to be able to move forward in the immigration process and there was no way to foresee when the appointment was.

 

With that being said, perhaps try to toughen up when you ask for advice. Most of us ARE Americans, after all. We don't hold back and we will tell you how it is, even if it's not done in the nicest way possible.

I can't say that has been my experience of Americans a lot of them are really nice. 

 

OP, did you get written notice of the interview? If they see it in writing then they may take it seriously. 

[Daniela M_______ 409]

1 hour ago, Jaquelly said:

With that being said, perhaps try to toughen up when you ask for advice. Most of us ARE Americans, after all. We don't hold back and we will tell you how it is, even if it's not done in the nicest way possible.

This one I'm still learning, we take cultural differences for granted and definitely the way we (as people) communicate is a big one. I try not to take things personally, or expect sugar coated answers, also empathy is showed different, we Latinos (well, some of us, not me) tend to victimize about things so we expect people to be extra kind and sweet if we are having a bad time, with you Americans a simple "I'm sorry you are going trough that" makes it lol, it's ok, it's just how we are.

 

About OP, I suggest you to start looking for another position, they will have you under constant proof with that attitude they are showing, life happens and you might need extra days later for IDK, going to the dentist or something. We spend a lot of our life time at work, better make it in a place where you feel at least appreciated.

[Chris&Ale 153]

6 hours ago, Isabella_NZ said:

Hi all 

 

I am located in Florida and I currently work full time at a company that has told me if I take any more unapproved absences I will move onto the next stage of performance management.

 

Long story short I do not have any more leave left and it is there policy that you cannot take unpaid leave other wise I will receive a written warning. 

 

I got my appointment letter for my adjustment of status which is the end of October and I am worried I will get a verbal warning or worse yet they will try and fire me because of the absence.

 

Can they do this? Are there any laws in place that won't allow them to fire me??

 

Any help or suggestions is much appreciated.

Since you have been in a car accident, did you file for an FMLA to help protect yourself from missing too much medically-related absences? If you had an FMLA to protect you, perhaps you could schedule a medical appointment the same day as your AOS interview and would thereby be protected under FMLA?