Is this a legitimate reason to miss work?

In my mind, that is not a legitimate reason to miss work. She is not the legal guardian of the mother nor does she have any familial relationship to the mother.

In the case of someone needing medical treatment, if they are conscious, they really don't need anyone there with them. If the are not conscious, then they need someone there who has legal power of attorney. There is no reason other than 'emotional support' for her to be there.

I think that you are being an extremely nice boss. When she gets back to work, I would let her know that regardless of how close she is to her boyfriend's mother, that missing work for a reason like that in the future will result in a write up. You need to explain the absenteeism policy to her and explain that this is a formal 'verbal warning' and that any other absences that don't comply with the rules will be her first formal write up.

Sometimes as a manager you get put in these precarious positions and not wanting to be insensitive you make allowances that in hindsight perhaps you should not have. Running a business myself I run into this quite often. My best advise is this- you made your decision that is a done deal. Tell the employee that you cut her some slack this time, and that it did cause problems for you and you were the one who had to make up for absence. Tell her you understand why she called out, but also if you have a employee handbook, pull it out and show her what constitutes a real reason for a absence. Hence, you cut her slack- but, you cannot do anymore than you just did, and then go over absenteeism and how you are the one who has to answer for her and her actions and how you don't want to lose your job because you are empathetic. Basically, if you lay it on the line and she can see things from your side she will be a little more considerate the next time a "emergency" comes up.

What is you attendance policy? If you do not have a consistent, written policy as to what are the reasons an absence will be excused, you are going to be in trouble. Where I work, we have a no-fault policy. That way managers don't have to make judgements about what is a good enough excuse. If you are absent (for any reason, whatsoever), it is a point. We give them 5 points before they are in trouble. We know that stuff happens and this gives them plenty of chances. I know it seems like a lot. What I have found is that your responsible employees will use 1 or 2 per year and your flakes will always go over the 5 allotted. When you put yourself in the place to determine if an excuse is acceptable or not, you encourage your employees to just make up better lies.

You're a good boss for being so understanding, however she may be lying. That sounds like an easy excuse to get a day off, especially because it was last minute. If you truly would like to pursue the matter, ask to see a hospital note or record to make sure that she actually went there.

If she had said that her bf mom was in a car accident or something then yeah, give her the day off. But it sounds like she was just keeping him company. I would have made her come in any way.

For me it would depend on why she was in the er. If she was in a terrible accident and on the verge of death, I'd look past it. If she just had the flu, that's ridiculous. If it was only one day, I'd let it go. If it's becoming a habit, you should document, document, document. Write her up and then fire her if it keeps up.

I would of made her work. If it's not immediate family, there is no reason she should of missed work.

I would be more bothered that she texted you and didn't call you..