morning sickness

slewis

What do you do with an employee who is not protected by FMLA because she has only been working a few months but who is having problems with her attendance because of a pregnancy and when she is here she is either in the bathroom getting sick or outside laying down in her car. Sometimes she has left early because of being sick. Her productivity is down, she is missing alot of time and her team is having to make up the difference.
Please offer any advice you may have.
Thank you
Sheri Lewis

Don D

Shari: Unless all the guys on her team are men, it's a safe bet that most of the team can empathize and are willing to take part of her workload (I think). I believe that your company has only two options: (1) develop a policy that will address the needs of people not qualified for FMLA who have serious medical conditions, or (2) hold firm to your attendance policy which you know will more than likely result in her termination x:-(. I'm sure she's not out in the car because she wants to be. (Listen to this MAN sympathizing!) I vote to find a way to cut her some slack. But, as you know, moving forward, your success will rise or fall on your consistency in application of a new policy, without regard to gender or degrees of the condition's seriousness and how your employees' perceive your consistency. (I had a similar condition in my freshman college year, but, it was due to Jim Beam fever).