Question about sick day in Pennsylvania

[madinpa]

I was wondering what anyone's take is on this. I work for a drug company in PA and had to call off sick last Friday. They said the policy for sickness is to call in 2 hours before your shift. I was opening that day so I could not call in because noone was there. I did not plan on being ill.When I called they were very rude to me and then they hung up. I went to the doctor who said I should stay home for 3 days. He gave me an excuse. When I returned to work they gave me an unexcused absence for not calling in 2 hours early. They said I should have called someone at home (at 7 am). I didnt know this policy but still got a documented unexcused absence. If you get 2 you get written up and put on corrective action. Now, also in this company even if you have a doctors excuse or are in a serious car accident 5 excused absenses turn into an unexcused absence. So now I have 1 unexcused and 2 excused so if anything happens to me in the next 8 months I am in trouble.
Does anyone else find this unfair? You basically get punished for being sick, and I understand that some people fake being sick but how can you fake letters from your doctor? They wrote someone up for being in a car accident earlier this year. Do you think it is fair for a company to be allowed to fire you for absences even if they were excused because after 5 they turn into 1 unexcused?
Thank you for your time
Madin

[Sue]

While it may not seem fair, it is not illegal.

Some companies actually have ZERO days allotted for sick time, others treat all as unexcused, some allow but don't pay, etc.

See below for the laws for your state.

http://www.dli.state.pa.us/landi/cwp...ndiPNavCtr=%7C

"Am I entitled to Sick Leave? Vacation Pay? Severance Pay?
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There is no Pennsylvania labor law which requires an employer to pay an employee not to work. Benefits like sick leave, vacation pay and severance pay are payments to an employee not to be at work. Therefore, an employer only has to pay these benefits if the employer has a policy to pay such benefits or a contract with you to pay these benefits. An employer must follow his/her own rules for these kinds of payments."