What to do when an employee calls in sick
When an employee calls in sick, record the call, decide within minutes whether the shift must be filled, then work down a pre-written call-down list, checking each person's weekly hours for overtime before you offer the shift. The federal government does not require paid sick leave (US DOL), but your state or city may, so the pay side follows that law.
The 6-step cover procedure
- Record the call: name, time of call, shift, and expected return date. Do not ask for a diagnosis.
- Decide if the shift must be filled. Compare the remaining staff with the minimum for that shift (set this per location in advance, e.g. 2 people on the floor and 1 on the register).
- Work the call-down list (template below), in order, one person at a time.
- Check hours before offering. FLSA overtime is owed for hours over 40 in a workweek (US DOL Fact Sheet #23).
- Update the schedule so the covering person's hours show on the timesheet, and tell the team who is now on.
- Write it in the handover note; template in shift handover notes.
Call-down list template (one per location)
Build it once a week when the schedule is published. Put first the people who are not scheduled that day and have the fewest hours that week.
| Order | Name | Trained for | Hours this week | Hours left before 40 | Phone | Can work at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Part-timer A | Register, floor | 16 | 24 | [number] | Store 1, Store 2 |
| 2 | Part-timer B | Floor | 22 | 18 | [number] | Store 1 |
| 3 | Full-timer C | Register, floor, open/close | 34 | 6 | [number] | Store 1 |
| 4 | Manager | All | n/a | n/a | [number] | All stores |
The overtime check, worked
Example: Full-timer C has 34 hours this week and is offered an 8-hour shift: 34 + 8 = 42 hours, so 2 hours are overtime at 1.5 times the regular rate. At $16.00 an hour, those 2 hours cost 2 × $24.00 = $48.00 instead of 2 × $16.00 = $32.00, or $16.00 more. Part-timer A covering the same shift ends at 24 hours with no overtime. Fact Sheet #23 does not split the 40 hours by location, so check hours at every location you run.
Script for the cover call
- "[Name], can you work today [start–end] at [store]?"
- If yes: "You're on. I'm updating the schedule now; clock in under [store]."
- If no: thank them, mark "no" and the time on the list, and call the next person.
- If voicemail: leave the shift details once, mark "VM" and the time, and move on without waiting.
Federal rules on the sick employee's side
| Question | Federal answer (US DOL) |
|---|---|
| Must the sick day be paid? | There are no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave |
| Is there federal unpaid sick leave? | For employers covered by the FMLA, the Act requires unpaid sick leave |
| Who is covered by FMLA? | Private employers with 50+ employees in 20+ workweeks in the current or previous calendar year |
| How much FMLA leave? | Up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period for qualifying reasons |
State and city sick leave laws can add paid leave and limit what you may ask or require. Check your state labor department before you set a doctor's-note rule.
What software does and does not do here
Assistlify does not find a replacement for you; the call-down list above is a manual step. What it does: shows each location's published week, which staff are assigned to which locations, and each person's clocked hours, so the call-down list and the overtime check above are built from current data. See multi-location scheduling, and for hours across stores, how to reduce overtime across locations.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check your state labor department for current rules.
Questions
What should a manager do first when an employee calls in sick?
Record the name, time of the call, the shift and the expected return date, then decide whether the shift must be filled before calling anyone.
Do I have to pay an employee who calls in sick?
Not under federal law: the US DOL says there are no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave, but some state and city laws require it.
Will covering a sick call trigger overtime?
Yes if it takes the covering employee over 40 hours in the workweek; e.g. 34 + 8 = 42 hours means 2 overtime hours at 1.5 times the regular rate.
Can I require a doctor's note for one sick day?
The DOL sick leave page cited here does not address doctor's notes; state and city sick leave laws can limit them, so check your state labor department first.
Sources
- US DOL: Sick Leave (checked 2026-11-12)
- US DOL Wage and Hour Division: Family and Medical Leave Act (checked 2026-11-12)
- US DOL Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA (revised October 2019) (checked 2026-11-12)