Employee with Allergies

karen l

We operated foster homes for mentally ill adults in MN, these homes have pets in them,a dog and cat. We have an employee who has worked for us for approximately 2.5 years and has now developed allergies to the animals. What are our obligations to this employee. One of the pets is owned by a resident in the home, the other is the responsability of the company with the 4 residents caring for it.

Don D

My suggestion is that the pets are a condition of employment. They are part of the facility for therapeutic reasons and are vital to the success of the residents. The employee's newly developed allergy will have to take a back seat. Offer him/her an opportunity to resign, with UI uncontested. On the long shot that this could be ADA, some may suggest that you consider paying for tests and allergy shots as an accommodation.

Crout

First you have to verify that the EE is allergic to the animals, which means that he/she needs to get tested, unless the symptoms are so severe that there's no question. Are there animals in EVERY residence? It would be great if you could offer a transfer. If not, I would do as Don suggested.

deniseE

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-14-04 AT 10:55AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Allergies to pets are pretty common...and pets are just about unavoidable in some lines of work...if it's not listed in the job description, I would revise it now.

Do you offer medical insurance with a prescription plan??? So many new drugs on the market make life with allergies much more tolerable with minimal side effects. EDIT: not to mention all the over-the-counter options!

Pets for your clients/residents are theraputic and really very useful. I can't see doing away with this part of your program.