medical cert for rehire?

marc

EE is being rehired. She resigned less than 6 months ago, had a medical issue and a return to work part-time note from her Dr. She returned, but was unable to work the hours and rather than go back out on FML - she resigned.

Filled out a new app - indicated she could do the job "with or without accomodation."

Are we precluded from any questions about her being able to return to work or from requiring a specific medical release from her Dr?

Let me know what you think please.

LivindonSouth

Interesting question. Surely we are not precluded from using the information gained in an earlier relationship, the second time around. It would be insane to think that the law (ADA) requires that an employer wipe a clean slate and pretend it knows nothing of the information lawfully gained in the earlier employment relationship. I would proceed the same as I would if there had been no break in employment and it was a 'return to work' situation. Meaning, yes, I would require a full fitness for duty report from a physician based on what I knew about her medical condition that she willingly revealed earlier.

POPEYE

I agree with the gentleman from MS. We just went through a similiar situation. We had an EE that exhausted all available leave time and played out the discipline with our attendance policy. The only time we will re-hire (have a written policy for this) is if someone terminates for medical concerns.

We allowed this EE to re-apply and was required to meet all of our hiring criteria including a pre-employment physical.

marc

That's where I came down. We do not, however, require a pre-employment physical. The manager of the department wants to hire with no strings.

I am concerned with a couple of things - first, that she be able to do the work. Her previous medical issue was more emotional than physical. To our knowledge, her service provider first would not allow her to work at all, then allowed her back with a few hours; then a few more. She was unable to handle the increase in hours.

One of my concerns is that there is a link with the work. I worry about the old saw "knew or should have known" about a possible connection of her issue and our work - which might lead to some sort of overhanging liability.

Her manager thinks that filling out a new employment application sweeps away all previous concerns and that we should ignore the previous condition. One of her concerns is that we may be violating HIPAA by pulling this information into the equation. Incidentally, this manager is the former HR director here with a fairly impressive depth and breadth of knowledge in the HR field.