Can an employer put an employee on a disciplinary action that prohibits them from calling out from work (which has seemingly become a pattern of Friday & Monday call outs) and using their Protected Time Off (PTO) in an attempt to avoid getting assessed points for his attendance and save himself from termination? This employee has always had an attendance problem and has used the system to his advantage. He is currently very close getting terminated per the company policy of reaching 8 points, but he will also be getting an additional 10 hours of PTO on 10/1/18. Which if follows his normal pattern, he will use immediately for time off.

Hmm. It sounds like your employee has found a hole in your system and might be working it. But, let me ask you this: Is his work getting done? Does he cause others to suffer due to his absenteeism? Are the goals of his position being met? If all of these things are no problem and the issue is truly his “working the system” then you may have little to do here except finding a way to change your PTO policies.

If there are performance or other issues that cause a hardship on the company, this may need to be addressed from the performance angle.

Is he calling out for medical reasons? Perhaps there is an actual, perceived or potential disability issue that could be claimed by the worker.

Finally, is he overtime-exempt? If so, there may be a level of fluidity where he often works from remote locations on his phone or other devices. All of these things must be considered before action is taken.

This is not one of those open and shut answers. You have many things to consider. I hope these questions will help you make some decisions about how you move forward with this and other employees.