Return from medical leave

LindaS

Hello everyone - I'm hoping someone can give me some advice on how to handle this situation...

We have an employee who was injured in August 2002. He sustained a brain injury and had emergency surgery. As a result of the injury and subsequent surgery, he "lost" some memory and had to undergo months of therapy, etc.. In addition he has seizures and is still unable to drive. On March 11, 2003 he was given a release by his physician which allowed him to return to work partial days. Prior to that we had his therapist come in and take a tour of the facility as well as explain what his job is. She didn't feel there was anything that could create a problem for him. We allowed him to return to work last week.

I have been approached several times by people he works with expressing concern for his safety as well as the safety of others he's working with. We are trying to keep him on "easy" jobs but he still becomes confused. I have asked the others in his department to take a little bit of time to retrain him on some of the different tasks but this person doesn't want others to know how much of his memory is gone. For example, he was calling one of his co-workers "beautiful" and when she asked him what her name was, he said "beautiful".

Because he works around machinery as well as some chemicals, there is a legitimate concern for his safety. We don't want to pull him off work because his main goal for the past six months has been to get back to work but I'm not quite sure how to handle it. I also have the added problem of how much to tell his co-workers since much of the information is private medical stuff and I don't want to create a problem there.

Any suggestions?

Margaret Morford

I think that I would review what you have seen with his doctor and/or therapist. They may change their recommendation about returning him to his current job. Is there another job you could put him on that would enable him to work but not be dangerous, like working in the mailroom? The worst that happens is that people's mail may get mixed up.

In so far as what you can say to employees, encourage them to continue bringing you their concerns so that you stay informed. I'd say, "We are aware that there are problems and we are working to try and resolve them. We want to keep Joe working because it is important to Joe and Joe's recovery. I can't discuss Joe's medical situation with you because I have to protect Joe's privacy. I can only tell you that we are working on the situation. Please let me know if you see anything else that concerns you so that we can take that into account as we make decisions about how to handle the situation." Hope that helps.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

sonny

I don't know what they call it in WI but if he has a case with Voc. Rehab ( he should) they might be able to help with a job coach. Don't always like the concept but it is an option.