Employee said he was sick . . . he was in jail!

catherinetnc

OK- Never a dull moment.
One of our branch managers had suspicions that an employee who had been out was getting Dr.s excuses either forged himself or by a friend in the doctor's office.

The employee first insisted he was in a wreck and had injuries the doctor treated. The employee couldn't produce a police report (even though he said it was a serious wreck and police were involved.) He was out for five days, called in said that he was recovering. Produced a doctor's note saying he could return to work in 3 days (even though he came back in five). When asked why he took two more days, he produced another note (the next day) from the doctor saying he needed the other two days to rest.

The doctor's notes seemed fishy enough. Now he has come in with a summons that seems to indicate that he was in jail those days he was "recovering," and has to go to court to face a list of charges.

Any advice?

Thanks for all of the advice in my previous post - I wish things were not so "interesting."

Catherine

Don D

I'm just enough of an A-hole (surprise, surprise) to go about the task of proving to myself that this guy was in fact in jail and is lying to the company. I would call somebody in the police jurisdiction where the summons is from and find out. If the community is small enough, I would go there personally and speak to the chief, the sheriff or someone other than a 'desk sergeant'. If that fails, I would walk into the clinic with those documents in hand and tell the 'girl behind the desk smacking gum' that I want to see the clinic manager. Produce the documents and tell her you suspect they are fraudulent.

And if either of these paths shows you to be right, I would not hesitate to fire him immediately.

Let us know how this comes out.

dchr9203

I would do exactly what Don would.

catherinetnc

THANKS so much to both of you for the info.
I'll let you know how it works out.
Catherine

pork1

I, too, have followed Don's exact path and ended with a termination which held up in an un-employment hearing. The documents present the case "in fact" and the hearing officer should be put out with the x-employees abuse of the employment systems and the waste of everyone's time.

PORK

hhaynal

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-09-04 AT 08:28AM (CST)[/font][br][br]First tell me what you are more upset about...the fact that he lied saying he was sick and was not, obtaining allegedly forged dr notes, or he might have been in jail.

Depending upon how you answer the above leads you to your next step. If, for example, he lied saying he was sick and was not, then if appropriate proceed under your disciplinary/return to work policy. In other words, if your return to work policy dictates that you need a dr note for absences over 3 days, or no call no show for 3 days, whatever and failure to do so warrants disciplinary action, then follow through with what's available.

But you indicated that the dr note may have been forged. This topic was just on the forum a couple of weeks ago and I believe there was some savvy advice returned. Check the recent posts on forged dr. notes.

Finally, if you are more upset that the employee may have been in jail the past 5 days and you want to do something about it, proceed with caution. Disciplinary action based on off-duty conduct is generally a no-no and I will not go into that here. If he was in jail and subsequently gets convicted, does your company have a policy for reporting of same within a period of time? Failure to report may be viewed as a violation of company policy and subject to discipline.

As I asked at the beginning, what are you most upset about, and what are you looking to achieve?

catherinetnc

Do I sound upset? I'll have to write my posts better! I am incredulous, not upset.

The manager suspected the doctor's notes were forged. Now he has even more reason to believe so.

Producing forged documents to excuse an absence is a terminable offense - most likely a felony, too. Now we have more reason to believe the notes are forged, and more impetus to check with the doctor - not the office staff. I'll check the posts on forged notes.

As far as I am concerned, if you're in jail you can take those days as vacation or personal days, provided you have given adequate notice. (I'll have to check the handbook.) ;>)

Thanks-
Catherine