My wife (non-exempt ) called in sick ( had 2 sick days accrued ) to work last week for a day she had originally requested vacation for. Her Manager ( I use that term lightly ) was displeased that she took a sick day and decided to dock her for it, then wrote her up and submitted it to the HR Department... What if any recourse do we have to force the Manager to honor the sick day pay policy...? This is a Colorado Springs Car Dealership...

Your wife requested a specific day off, it was denied, and she called in sick on that same day. The employer is entitled to find that a trifle suspicious.

Your own thread heading suggests that she was not really sick, but instead called in sick so that she could have a denied day off for personal reasons. An employer may LEGALLY dock an exempt employee who takes a full day off for personal reasons. They may also LEGALLY fire an employee who calls in sick when they really are not in order to get a day off they've been told they cannot have.

Thanks for the quick response. My heading "Manager docks non-exempt sick day pay for personal reasons" meant that THE MANAGER HAD PERSONAL REASONS TO DOCK THE PAY ...

The untold part of the story is that my wife requested the day off to be with visiting family several months in advance... It was OK'd originally... Then, the Manager decided she needed to take the same day off as she had scheduled several medical procedures to get "work done"... Then, the Manager re-scinded the vacation day for my wife, even though my wife had already made plans... I'm sure none of this really matters much in the big picture but it's a disturbing trend I've seen this Manager take with regards to my wife trying to plan vacation time... The short answer is, "find another job"... Also, the informal policy is that if sick days aren't used in a specific time period, they are lost and don't continue to accrue. Employees are encouraged to take them for whatever reason they see fit...

May or may not have been "fair", but not illegal.

Balderdash. Your wife lied and got caught. Be grateful that ALL that happened was that they docked her pay (which they had every right to do under the FLSA) and that they didn't fire her, which they also had every right to do.

Actually, I mis-stated the facts now that I got the details. My wife originally requested M, T and F for vacation. It was originally OK'd by the Mngr. Then the Mngr. re-scinded the Friday request because she decided to take personal time. My wife then called in sick on Wednesday, and actually was sick with a Rheumatoid Arthritis Flare up brought on by the stress of the hole situation. I remember giving her an Enbrel shot Wednesday AM before I left for work so my wife could function that day... My wife used to be a model employee for this company but years of abuse and grief from the Mngr. has influenced her actions lately... The answer to me is still "find another job" and be done with the bullsh*t... We've also filed a complaint with the HR Department against the Mngr. for this and other issues in the past, for which we assume nothing will be done because the Mngr. is "in the club", is untouchable and capable of doing no wrong in Sr. Managements eyes...
Thanks for all your input, even though it was all based on inaccurate info on my part..