Medical Certification

HRCathy

Happy Friday! I have another problem and I need advice. I have an employee, who is over 40. He is complaining that he can't lift anything, his back hurts, his arms hurt, basically, everything hurts. When he was hired, he was medically cleared to handle the job he was hired for. Can I request that he get me medical certification that he can perform the job? I think he is an accident waiting to happen. He is on night shift, which has only 6 people, so I can't accomodate him to not have any lifting responsibilities. What can I do to protect this employee from getting hurt and protect my company from liability?

LindaS

I had this situation with several employees when I came to this company. Employees were coming to work with everything from sore backs, arms, shoulders, etc. and the supervisors were accomodating them. All this without any medical certification of whatever the problem was. After talking with management we decided to require medical certifications from ALL employees who had medical issues that lasted longer than one week. The notices went out and it was amazing how many we DID NOT get back.

Inform the employee you can no longer accomodate him without medical certification. Provide him with a copy of his job description and have the doctor look through it to determine what he can, and cannot do. Once you receive the medical certification back, you can decide how to proceed.

HRCathy

Thank you. Should I send him to my doctor or his own?

LindaS

Here in WI, employers cannot "send" an employee to a specific physician; unless it is for an IME for WC. I would recommend meeting with him, provide him with his job description and inform him that if he feels he cannot do all the functions of his position, he will need to provide certification of his medical condition, as well as what his restrictions are. Inform him, as well, that upon receipt of the information you will make a determination as to whether or not you can accomodate him. I wouldn't recommend sending him to a specific physician at this point. Wait to see what he brings in. Make sure you provide him with a letter regarding this issue. When I did it, there were quite a few employees scared of losing their jobs because I wasn't making any guarantees about accomodations until I saw medical certs.. As I said, the majority of these maladies were suddenly gone.