Lindsey Desmet
Short Answer — Full- and part-time Sam’s Club employees are allowed a certain number of call-ins, or days they can call in sick to work. The company calculates penalties for unapproved absences, arriving late, and leaving early using a point system. If you’ve earned paid time off, you can use it for sick days without penalty.
Sam’s Club Call-In Policy
Sam’s Club allows its employees to call in sick or for an emergency, according to reports from current Sam’s Club employees. However, each time you miss a shift, you’ll accrue penalty points, which stay on your record for six months.
Calling in once counts for one point. Sam’s Club will terminate employees who have been with the company for less than six months if they reach four penalty points — this means that you can have three unplanned absences within a six-month period before you will face termination.
Employees with a longer tenure will be let go if they reach nine points.
Keep in mind, showing up late and leaving early will also add penalties. If you arrive less than two hours late or leave less than two hours early, you’ll accrue half a point. If you arrive more than two hours late or leave more than two hours early, you’ll accrue one point.
We verified the information above with Sam’s Club employees.
Sam’s Club has a low tolerance for “no call, no show” absences. You should always let your manager know if you need to miss work, and it’s best to do it before your shift is scheduled to start. New employees can be terminated after just one “no call, no show” absence, current employees report.
If you have a medical emergency that requires you to call in and take the day off work — or perhaps the emergency was so serious that you were unable to call in — getting a doctor’s note may be able to help keep you from being terminated or penalized.
Using Paid Time Off
Both hourly and salaried Sam’s Club employees can accrue paid time off (PTO). You can use PTO for sick days, vacations, or any other needed time off.
Sam’s Club follows the PTO policy of its parent company, Walmart. The company updated its policy in 2016 to allow employees to use PTO as soon as it’s earned.
When using PTO for a sick day, you’ll need to contact your manager as soon as possible and follow your store’s policy for reporting an unplanned absence — but, by using your PTO, you won’t accrue any penalty points, and you will still get paid.
For more information on Walmart’s employment policies, see our article about Walmart’s rehire policies after termination.
William Lipovsky
