Can you fire someone for calling in sick in Indiana?

Generally yes — Indiana is at-will, so attendance policies can be enforced up to termination. The exceptions: absences protected by FMLA or the ADA, and — specific to Indiana — absences connected to a workers' compensation injury, where firing invites a Frampton retaliatory-discharge claim.

Does an Indiana employer have to pay out unused vacation at termination?

Usually yes, if vacation was promised. Indiana treats accrued vacation as deferred compensation — wages — payable at termination unless a written policy clearly conditions or forfeits it. And unpaid wage claims carry liquidated damages plus attorney's fees, so the stakes are higher than the balance itself.

When is the final paycheck due in Indiana?

By the next regular payday, whether the employee was fired or quit. If a departing employee leaves no forwarding address, payment is due once an address is provided.

What counts as a no-call no-show in Indiana?

Indiana law doesn't define it — your written policy does. Most employers treat a missed shift with no notice inside a set window as a no-call no-show and a set number (commonly three consecutive) as job abandonment. The enforceable version is written, distributed, and applied the same way every time.

Can an Indiana employer count a work-injury absence against attendance points?

It's the riskiest move in Indiana attendance law. Under the Frampton doctrine, discharging an employee in retaliation for a workers' comp claim is actionable — and courts have little patience for terminations that technically cite 'points' accrued during comp-related absences. Carve comp absences out of the points system entirely.

Indiana sick leave law & call-off rules

Q: Is paid sick leave required in Indiana?

No. Indiana has no state sick leave requirement for private employers, and state law has preempted local sick-leave ordinances since 2013, so no Indiana city can impose one. Sick leave is whatever your written policy provides, subject to federal FMLA and ADA obligations.

Indiana requires no sick leave, no breaks for adults, and not even voting leave — on paper it's one of the most employer-flexible states in the country. The two rules that actually bite Indiana employers are subtler: promised vacation is treated as deferred wages, and firing over an absence tied to a workers' compensation injury is actionable retaliation under the Frampton doctrine. Here is what applies in 2026.

Indiana at a glance

Paid sick leave mandate	None — and local ordinances are preempted by state law
Employment relationship	At-will; the Frampton doctrine bars firing over workers' comp-related absences
PTO payout at termination	Promised vacation is deferred wages — payable unless a written policy clearly conditions or forfeits it
Final paycheck deadline	Next regular payday, fired or quit
Meal & rest breaks	None for adults; minors get 30 minutes at 6+ consecutive hours
Voting leave	Not required — Indiana has no voting-leave law
FMLA (federal)	Applies at 50+ employees within 75 miles — 12 weeks unpaid, job-protected

Is paid sick leave required in Indiana?

No. Indiana has no state law requiring private employers to provide paid or unpaid sick leave, and a preemption law in place since 2013 bars cities and counties from creating their own. Sick leave in Indiana is entirely what your written policy makes it — plus the federal floor below.

The federal floor that still applies

FMLA

Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."

ADA

For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.

Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in Indiana

Indiana is at-will, and attendance discipline — including termination for a no-call no-show — is generally lawful. The state-specific exception is the Frampton doctrine: terminating an employee for absences connected to a workers' compensation injury is retaliatory discharge, full stop. That means an attendance-points system needs to know why each absence happened before the points post — the difference between "out sick" and "out for the shoulder he hurt on the job Tuesday" is the difference between routine discipline and a lawsuit. Wage claims go to the Indiana Department of Labor, and disputes come down to the record: the written policy, the call-off log, and consistent enforcement. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system that keeps each employee's own words, time-stamped, is what makes that record automatic.

PTO payout and final paychecks

Scenario	Rule	Source
Employee is fired or laid off	Final pay due by the next regular payday	Ind. Code 22-2-9-2
Employee quits	Next regular payday (if no forwarding address, after one is provided)	Ind. Code 22-2-5-1
Unused vacation / PTO	Accrued vacation that was promised is deferred compensation — payable at termination unless a written policy clearly conditions or forfeits it	Indiana Wage Payment Statute
Late or short final pay	Liquidated damages and attorney's fees are available on unpaid wage claims — vacation included	Ind. Code 22-2-5-2

If you don't intend to pay out accrued vacation, the forfeiture language has to be explicit and in writing — silence means it's owed. See how PTO accrual works.

Leave Indiana employers must (and must not) provide

Leave type	Required?	Notes
Jury duty	Yes — unpaid	No firing or penalties, and you can't force employees to burn vacation or personal days on it
Military	Yes	USERRA (federal) plus Indiana National Guard protections
Voting	No	Indiana has no voting-leave requirement
Sick leave	No	Whatever your written policy provides
Vacation / PTO	No	Policy-driven — but see the deferred-wages payout rule above

The Indiana employer's attendance playbook

Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.

Note: This is general information for Indiana private-sector employers as of 2026, not legal advice. Federal contractors and public employers have additional rules, and laws change. Confirm specifics with qualified counsel.

Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.

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