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Kansas Employment Laws on Missing Work

For the most part, federal and state labor laws allow employers and workers in Kansas the flexibility to determine workplace policies that suit both their needs with little regulatory interference. One matter in which state and federal law is largely silent is policies on absenteeism. In most cases, employers may set their own policies regarding missing work or tardiness, and employees have few legal recourses unless the policies violate the federal Family Medical Leave Act.

  1. FLSA and Kansas Labor Law

    • The federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the Kansas Minimum Wage and Overtime Law serve as the two principal pieces of legislation that govern workplaces in Kansas. As of the time of publication, the FLSA requires employers to pay all FLSA-covered workers a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and mandates overtime wages of 150 percent normal hourly pay when a worker clocks more than 40 hours in a pay period. Kansas law extends to all workers not covered by the FLSA, mandating a $7.25 minimum wage and overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 46 per week. Neither state nor local law addresses absenteeism or guarantees workers days off.

    At-Will Employment in Kansas

    • Kansas allows employers to hire workers on an at-will basis. At-will employment allows workers to leave their job at any time without any advance notice without repercussions. Conversely, it allows employers to immediately terminate an employee for any reason, including missing work or other absenteeism problems. Because of this, employers are free to discipline their employees as they see fit to ensure they have a reliable workforce that can reasonably be counted on to report for scheduled shifts.

    Employee Handbooks and Contracts

    • If an employer maintains an employee handbook that outlines policies on absenteeism, the employer’s expected to maintain those policies on a semi-contractual basis. For example, if an employee handbook declares that workers receive a written warning after their first missed day, and an employer instead fires the worker, the employee may have a valid complaint to file with the Kansas Department of Labor. Additionally, any definitions of absenteeism and its consequences outlined in an employment contract must be honored as a matter of contract law. Violations of employment contracts must be settled in civil court.

    Family Medical Leave Act

    • While the Family Medical Leave Act is a federal law, it still applies to many workers in Kansas. Workers employed by a company with 50 or more employees who served for a year with at least 1,250 hours must be granted up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year. Leave under the act may only be used to seek treatment of an illness, care for a newborn child, attend to a sick immediate family member. Workers who leave the workplace on FMLA leave must return to their old job at their old rate of pay, or a similar position.

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