employee with heart condition

tcluck

I have an employee who has a mild heart condition. Last year he took some FMLA time in regards to this problem. He is always complaining that the supervisor works him to hard and that he might just have a heart attack. This employee's job is scrap processor and intales of handling some half sheets of plywood, maybe 3-4 times a day weighting 20-30lbs, banding some boxes and other misc. jobs.
My question is can I make him go to the doctor to get specific restriction due to his heart condition so that we are covered and can put him in the correct postion to accomidate those restriction.

Rockie

Take it from someone who works in a heart facility, there are all degrees of heart conditions, some are controlled by medication/diet and some are correctable by surgery. Then..some are not correctable.

It would depend upon the circumstances of the employee. If he feels he cannot perform the functions of the position, he needs to secure a doctor's statement outlining what his restrictions are. It may be he is unable to perform the esential functions of the job, with or without accommodation.

Then again, he could be using his condition as a "crutch" because he does not want to do something he is asked to do. You cannot guess which is which unless you have a doctors' certification outlining any restrictions he may have.

tcluck

But should I require him to see a doctor.
My belief is he using this as a "crutch" and does not want to do what he is asked.

AnneLa

I'd first start by handling the issue as a performance issue. Is he performing the quantity of work that is expected of him in this position? In that way, you can open up the discussion as to what's wrong, and let the responsibility fall to this employee to explain why he "can't" perform up to expectations, lift 30 lbs., etc. Good luck

Hatchetman

I generally second Anne's approach. I assume you know for a fact that he has a "mild heart condition" -- whatever that means.

You don't say if there are any work problesm -- performance, etc. But given the fact that he is making the statements, his superivosr or managment should meet with him to ask him if he is having any problem or concerns about doing his work in light of his constant statements about having a heart attack and too much work. See what he says.

Make sure he understands that he is not in trouble but that the compnay wants to make sure everything is okay. If he says, everythings's "okay" then move on. If he says there is a problem, then evaluate whether or not he needs a reasonable accommodation (if he qualifies as diabled, if he wants one, etc.)

If there are work problems, in discussing them with him, ask him what he sees as the reason for them. If he says his "heart condition" then find out if he is ADA qualified and if reasonable accommodation is needed.) If he does't identify it, since the company knows of a medical condition and again given his statments, you cna ask him directly if the medical conition is palying any part in the performance problems. And see what he says.