arrested employee

System

A long term kitchen employee at our Montana (not at-will)restaurant was just offered a salaried management position as assistant manager of the restaurant. He was a no-show yesterday to sign his employment agreement (contract)because he is in jail- arrested. Apparently he appears before the judge today. Sounds like it may be a 4th DUI and that he may be forced to rehab for several months. Operationally we need an assistant manager yesterday. Do we hold the management position for him- getting treatment means he falls under the ADA now, yes? Or because we can't hold out operationally, do we keep him on as an hourly kitchen worker and give him a leave of absense to get help?

SMace

No, you do not have to hold the job. If you need a manager and he can't show up, ADA doesn't help.

Now, keeping him on the kitchen staff depends on policy and/or precedence. I would apply your attendance policy to the jail time. The rehab would be covered under FMLA if your company has to adhere to the regs and he is eligible. If you don't have to follow FMLA, you need to decide if you want to grant him a leave of absence. That's where ADA comes in if it is "reasonable" to do so.

You may need to give some more detail to get a more specific answer.