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Screw in my Shoulder??

TT 175 Posts
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
EE has been here for over 1 year. For some reason we are just getting complaints that she is not one who helps "unload the truck". Her comment was, "I have a screw in my shoulder and I don't want to mess my shoulder up again and the company have to pay for it"!!!(I guess she's talking WC)

Can I let her go for not doing her job? or what can I do?

Thanks.
-T
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Comments

  • 6 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • SMaceSMace 1,481 Posts
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    1. Make darn sure everyone in her same position has to unload a truck. If anyone else is skating by, it's going to come back and bite you.

    2. Is it unreasonable (you may have to defend your decision) to allow her not to unload the truck?

    3. If it is unreasonable I'd send her to a doctor for a functional capacity test with the info you have. You need a physical demands analysis of her job to go with her to the test.

    4. Depending on the outcome of the test, you have options. We can talk about that when it happens.
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  • ritaanzritaanz 2,665 Posts
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    Anything in her file? Has she been doing the job requirements in the past?


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  • TT 175 Posts
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    There's nothing in her file. As far as I know she has been doing all of her job as required.

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  • marcmarc 3,126 Posts
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    If it is a requirement for the job description, she is forcing a back-door ADA accomodation on you. If it is really a big deal, and these things can get blown out of proportion by the staff that are unloading the truck, then force her to go through the proper steps to document her disability. If her job has other lifting requirements, you may already be risking the WC claim. It is time to determine the nature and extent of her inability to perform the job functions.
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  • ritaanzritaanz 2,665 Posts
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    So all of a sudden she has a problem. Follow Marc's suggestions and get her "processed".

    She may not want to cooperate in providing you with the needed information. In that case, it would be whole new problem. Document, document, document.
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  • Don DDon D 9,834 Posts
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    Anytime an employee indicates to me that they cannot perform an essential function of their job, I suspend their employment at that point and tell them they cannot return to work until they present a release from a medical practitioner. Depending on the outcome of that, I may go the route of FMLA paperwork or may request a second opinion or may continue the work suspension or may return them to work, perhaps with some restriction IF it is WC.

    I have two current situations where stools were removed from the work area due to work-cell redesign and lean manufacturing, both employees suddenly claimed an inability to function on the job and they were both suspended and are out now for almost a month on FMLA. Stools will not be reintroduced to their jobs for any reason and I suspect that they will self-implode at the end of their FMLA entitlement. Both enjoyed the stools, which is not among the objectives of the company.
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