So I have recieved a letter from upper management regarding my job performance in an adult bookstore. I am the security guard and have been having some major issues.

1. I was injured at work and filled disability, was off work for two weeks. Since returning to work I have had to take off one day because my child was ill and needed emergency medical care. I was told that if I miss one more unexcused day I will be fired. Can they fire me because my child was in the emergency room for over 10 hours?

2. I am in the middle of a divorce and am required to have my child with me everyother weekend. I asked on several occations if my employer and I could work out a new schedule to accomedate my child without sacrificing my job duties. I was told no way and have since been paying an unbelievable amount in weekend childcare. Is there any law or regulation that could possibly help me to get a better schedule before I have to choose between seeing my daughter everyother weekend or working and losing my visits with her?

3. On a nightly basis I am informing customers that they are not allowed to smoke inside. Management tells me that it is okay and to not tell the customers that whenever I inform him that the situation is happening. How do I go about having the smoking ban unforced without risking my job?

4. I work 46 hours a week without overtime. When I ask about this, I am told that its already included in my paycheck. My weekly paycheck does not show any overtime being paid, is this legal?

5. I have been warned about being absent one more time, although a fellow employee habitually leaves two hours into his shift at least three times a month without having to show verifyable meducal reasons. Can they legally require me to show medical reasons and not other employees? And isn't illegal for my employer to request that I give them copies of medical discharges for my 5 year old daughter being in the e.r. the night I called in to let them know I wasnt making it into work?

6. Also, the night my daughter was in the e.r. i called and told one of the managers it was a personal reason why I wasnt coming to work (he doesnt tell his manager why I am gone anyways). The next night when I returned to work, I informed my immediate manager why I wasnt in the privious night. But I still recieved a written warning that the manager I had spoke to said it was for personal reasons. Shouldnt I have been contacted and asked before the letter was written?

7. When written up for an incident, isnt the employee required to sign the notice?

Is it legal for employers to have a different sets of rules regarding attendence for different employees? I am publicly repromanded for an absence while a fellow employee is allowed to leave work early on a weekly basis without reprocusion.

1. Generally speaking, yes. I am wavering a bit on this because I know California does have some additional types of leave over and above federal law; I doubt any of them would apply to a one-day absence due to a child's illness/injury, but I'm sure one of the California experts will correct me if I'm wrong.

2. No. The employer is not required under the law to take your personal situation into consideration when scheduling you.

3. I take it this is a state/municipal ordinance? You can report it to the applicable regulatory agency.

4. Very likely, no, it is not. What happens if you miss a partial day of work? Is your "salary" docked? As a nonexempt employee, you must be paid overtime pay in accordance with California law.
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Overtime.htm

5. Although it's usually a good idea, there is nothing in the law that requires an employer to treat each employee the same. Yes, they can legally require a doctor's note to excuse your absence.

6. No law requires it.

7. No. It's a good idea, but it isn't required by law.

The only thing I see as a probably violation of law here is the lack of overtime premium. If you are treated differently SOLELY because of a protected characteristic, such as age, race, gender, etc., then you might have a claim of illegal discrimination. However, it is not illegal discrimination to require you to meet the qualifications of the job, however stringent and inconvenient they may be.

In Ca, if you have sick leave available, you can use up to half of it to care for your sick child. They have the right to ask you for a doctor's note, though, and they have the right to know it was for that reason, and not "personal reasons" which don't have the same protection. In any case, you probably had already exhausted your sick leave after the leave of absence.

I think you can report the smoking to Cal-OSHA; if the company won't allow you to tell people to stop smoking indoors, you are being exposed to dangerous chemicals. (For non-California readers: here in Ca we take second-hand smoke pretty seriously. This may not be the case in your jurisdiction).

File a claim with the DLSE for the overtime.

Have you worked there one year, worked more than 1250 hours in the last year, and are there more than 50 employees within 75 miles?