Employee on Leave- Injured

Toothfairy

I have an employee who has been with our company for 6 months at the time she was injured, she had clocked out of work and was walking to her car in the parking garage, this was not on our premises, she was working at an office site we rent space from, it was called into WC but still under investigation. She has been out of work since 9/30/05. She does not qualify for FML, she has not earned any sick time, or vacation, she was eligible for our health benefits after 4 months and continues to pay her portion.
Her position with the company is still available,when I last spoke to her I told her we would be willing to make accommodations for her if she were to return to work.She if going
to physcial therapy 2 or 3 times a week, I have requested a follow up report from Doctor.

Right now she does not have an Employee Status I can keep her in,also due to the rules of the insurance company we are not allowed to cover her because she is not "actively working".

My question is- Should I terminate her? or should I assume since she is not returning to work, and tell her we accept her Voluntary Termination?

Thank you for your insight.
Toothfairy.

Down_the_Middle

It looks as tho someone's been asleep at the wheel permitting this person to be "out" for 7 weeks w/o changing her employment status; plus a w/comp investigation that can't be that complicated. Yikes.........

I would caution you about "assuming" anything; you'll make the wrong decision and risk some sort of retaliation charge for this injury (if it's viewed to be compensable). If you have the policy to place this person on a non-FMLA leave of absence, that might be the first step. The prior 7 weeks needs to be classified as something. Secondly, once you've seen the medical report you can determine what restrictions exist and perhaps return the person to work or have a conversation about her interest to RTW. I see some COBRA issues here that will also be an obstacle if the person has not been afforded that information in a timely manner..
Seems to me the most immediate issue is to find out her physical status and then proceed accordingly. Once that's determined, we might be able to offer more specific information......

Toothfairy

Thank you for your observations, I appreciate your suggestions. We actually did not have a hardship of any kind to not keep her on as an employee, we did not think her recouperation would take this long and since she was injured(possibly with a WC issue) we wanted to tread lightly.

Crout

So which "Employee Status" has she been in for the last 7 weeks? Keep her in that status for two more weeks. Send her a Registered letter and set a two-week deadline for her to return to duty, or resign. COBRA won't be a problem unless you backdate her date of termination.

Toothfairy

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Your suggestions seems to be the most efficient way to handle this situation.

SMace

1. Get the WC claim resolved now. Someone's falling down on the job and needs to inherit some urgency.
2. What are your state laws regarding WC and termination? Ask your claims person.
3. If your laws allow termination do what you normally do when ee's do not have an employment status. If they don't allow termination you are going to have to come up with a new Employee Status.
4. I think your insurance company is either shirking it's responsibility (who is actively working while they are receiving health care?) or you should have offered COBRA. You need to find the answer to that one. I would get guidance from your insurance carrier on how to handle it. The outcome should not be the employee paying all the bills.

You got a hell of a mess and only 1 1/2 days till Thanksgiving. I would not be able to enjoy it without sorting this out by Wednesday. Good luck.

Toothfairy

Thank you much, I am definitely going to resolve this by Wed.
Happy Holiday's

Balloonman1

So did you get it resolved?

The Balloonman

Toothfairy

As it turns out the employee is coming back to work as of Dec 5th, her Doctor is allowing her to come back part time with accomodations we are willing to make for her so that she can do her job.

Thank you for your interest.