MIA ADA and alcohol rehab?

Ruskanen

We have an employee that works as a customer service rep in our service center. He stopped coming to work. One of his managers, who also happens to be his nephew (yes, we have a nepotism policy, but that's a-whole-nother story), said he was hospitalized.

I sent medical leave of absence paperwork by certified mail with return receipt. The employee has not yet been with us for a year so is not yet eligible for FMLA. I called him twice and left him messages on his voice mail. The employee has not called me, has not picked up the certified letter, and has not communicated in any way what his situation is. This has been going on since 10/26/04.

His nephew/manager has hinted to the other manager, but not to HR, that the employee is in some sort of dry out/rehab for alcoholism.

I understand that under ADA we need to offer some accommodation, but wouldn't the employee have to communicate with us in some way if he needed time off to attend AA meetings or something like that? We can not hold his position open indefinitely, especially since he was the only one in his position. They now have a temp and the other manager doing the job. Wouldn't holding a job open for an employee in a small office where there really isn't anyone to fill in for a period of months be an accommodation that would be considered an undue hardship on the company?

nohr4u1yr

Do you have a policy that states if they are a no call - no show for so many days then there employement is terminated? Even if he is in a re-hab - it is his responsibility to notify his employer. What did you say in the letter?

Ruskanen

In some form he communicated his absence with his manager/nephew. The letter I sent stated that because of his personal illness (at the time I was not aware it was rehab) he could qualify for a leave of absence under the company's leave of absence policy. I asked him to return the paperwork within 15 days of receipt of the letter, and I gave an absolute deadline to have the paperwork back by November 26th. I gave a generous deadline to account for the days the information would be in transit in the mail. He works in a different state. But, he hasn't even seen the letter yet. I tracked it on usps.com and he hasn't picked it up and no one has signed for it. He didn't respond to my two voicemails I left for him either. How long do we wait for him to respond?

marc

As I see it, part of your difficulty lies in the fact that the nephew knows what it going on and he is part of management. From the EEs perspective, he has informed management. That puts the burden of knowledge on the company in my opinion.

ADA and alcoholism is not a cut and dried subjbect. There are aspects of it that probably fall under ADA, but that does not relieve the EE from their responsibility to provide you with information.

I don't know how all rehab clinics work, but I understand many will prevent thier clients from contacting the outside world or from being contacted by the outside world. That may be why your paperwork is not being picked up.

You might consider bringing the nephew together with your immediate supervisor and discussing the issue frankly. If the nephew has been burdened with the knowledge, it is time to smoke it out. If he has not (which I doubt), then proceed with your normal no-call, no-show policy.

Don D

I know a bit about rehab programs. The director of the rehab facility will cooperate if you tell him/her that you need certain information in order to salvage a person's job. And it is always reasonable to assume that an addict of any sort who has checked themselves into a treatment facility is not much into filling out papers and making phone calls and adhering to company personnel manuals.

Bottom line is you have knowledge that indicates this employee may have ADA protection and you can't 'kneejerk' this one.