Human Resource Blog

No Call No Show in Illinois

What is the rule for no call no show in Illinois. Currently, our policy states that an employee who does not call in or show for work for three consecutive workdays has given us their voluntary resignation. Thanks.

Many employers have a similar policy, and in most cases it works fine. An employee who does not call in or report to work for 3 consecutive work days is considered to have quit.

However, you need to be aware that in some cases the law will require that you make excptions to this policy, depending upon the circumstances. For example, an employee who has a heart attack or stroke on the way to work may physically not be able to call in. An employee with a concussion or amnesia will not be physically able to call in. An employee with very severe depression may be psychologically unable to call in. In  some cases the employee may have a spouse or close family member who can make the call, but not always. All of these are serious health conditions under FMLA, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the employee is entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. Ideally the employees spouse or a family member would call in. But some people have no close family, and in other cases the family member may simply not think of calling.

Normally an employee has to follow the employers usual call in policies for FMLA absences under the new 2009 rules. However, the regulations make an exception for extreme cases where the employee is unable to phone in, for a variety of reasons.

So just be aware that despite your policy, on very rare occasions, you may have to reinstate an employee and grant FMLA leave.