Are Text Messages Sufficient For “Calling In” Sick?



Posted: Tuesday, January 25, 2011

by Crystal O'Brien
MMC Inc.

The 21st Century has seen the advent of lots of exciting technological changes which have greatly impacted how Americans communicate on a day-to-day basis.  With those changes has come the phenomenon of texting.  Rather than picking up the telephone, or even sending a detailed and comprehensive email, many people inform their employer that they will be reporting to work or not via text.  But is this an ideal form of communications?  Better yet, does this method fall within the confines of a traditional Attendance Policy?  This Case of the Month article focuses on one problem inherent to permitting text messages to serve as a form of acceptable employee com communications.

In our case review, we consider fictional characters Dana, the medical office administrator, and Judith, the front office receptionist.  Judith began texting Dana with issues in reporting to work late, feeling ill, and with emergencies that required her to leave early not long after Judith began working for Dana.  The problem with this, however, is that Dana never knows what will happen next with Judith.  When Dana needs to question why Judith is not at work the day after reporting ill, Judith is rarely responsive to telephone calls, emails, or texts.  When Judith appears to work days later, she wonders why Dana didn’t receive her text to inform her that she was also ill another day.  Then there’s the problem when Judith’s cell phone is not in service, Judith apparently believes that it should be very understandable why she could not reach Dana to advise her of where she was because she no doubt should have discovered that her phone was not in service.  Not surprisingly, Dana has discovered that in the short 60 days Judith has worked with Dana, Judith clearly has an attendance problem.

Naturally, Dana was frustrated when she sought MMC’s help with how to address Judith’s casual attitude to reporting to work on time and consistently, and had no text message proof that documented apparent abuse of Dana’s employee-friendly approach to communicating with her staff.  This problem was not as great as Dana had anticipated.

As an initial matter, we recommended that Dana reinstate a formal Attendance Policy that did not allow for texting to suffice for an employee’s obligation to communicate to his or her employer. Alternatively, we recommended that Dana memorialize every text message by having the employee complete formal requests for time off, tardy excuses, and leaving as soon as is practicable.  To address the specific problem with Judith’s attendance, we recommended Dana prepare a counseling memorandum that documented all text messages, that Dana could reasonably recall, to establish a clear written problem, and advised her that she should demand Judith immediately correct the problem or risk future adverse employment action.

Fortunately, this problem was readily resolved.  However, luck should not be relied on for addressing employee issues.
Crystal M. O'Brien, Esq. serves as MMC's Employment Law Manager/Corporate Counsel. After receiving a double-degree in psychology and sociology from Oberlin College in 1988, Ms. O'Brien earned a workers' compensation insurance claims adjusting license in 1991. She completed post-graduate studies in Human Resources Management at Portland State University's Graduate School of Urban & Public Affairs from 1996-1998 and earned a Juris Doctorate and Certificate in Dispute Resolution from Willamette University College of Law in 2001. Immediately following law school, Ms. O'Brien served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Faith Ireland (ret.) of the Washington State Supreme Court. She is licensed to practice law in California Washington as well as before U.S. District Courts in each state. Collectively, Ms. O'Brien has 19 years of litigation experience.

To view her complete bio click here.

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