Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Re: sick calls

You should be furious. This sounds to me like a violation of your medical right to privacy. Who is it that examines you? What are their qualifications? If you are ill, employers have no right to know the nature of your illness, or any other information other than your expected date of return. They can, however, have you examined by a company doctor to confirm that you are ill, but there is still a confidential relationship between you and the company doctor. If anyone is fired for refusing to comply with this policy, there may be a wrongful termination here.

Re: sick calls

Such a blanket rule also seems to violate the FMLA, (CFRA) and possibly laws about retaliating against employees for filing workers comp. claims, if one was involved. There is another way to look at it, though, from the perspective of the other (healthy) store employees -- who should not be exposed to illness of other employees. The employer is required by CA Labor Code Section 6310 to maintain a safe workplace. I would suggest that employees complain about the policy in writing, saying that it's your belief that this policy violates state and federal leave laws, and the employer's duty to maintain a safe workplace. Retaliation for such complaints is illegal (of course, that doesn't stop many employers. . . ) Good luck.