Letter with restrictions

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 02-16-06 AT 10:14AM (CST)[/font][br][br]I have an employee who's wife faxed over a letter stating he is being 'limited to moving no more than 20 lbs'. The employee has not come to our supervisor to talk about it at all and it is our supervisors belief that the ee will not start that conversation.

The weight restrictions makes it so that he cannot do his job any longer - he is a mechanic. (Yet he is continuing to do the work.)

Because of the weight restriction, we cannot accomodate it, but we could move him into another job that he has already stated that he doesn't want because it hurts his back.

We feel that the ee is a walking time bomb and is just waiting for an opportunity to get on W/Comp. He does have injuries from past employers that he is also still dealing with.

Beyond that, what more can we do? My supervisor wants him gone, just on the fact that he can not longer do his job. Am I missing something that should be staring me in the face?

Comments

  • 2 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • [font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 02-17-06 AT 00:40AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Did the wife fax it AND write it, or did she fax what appears to be a genuine letter from a physician? I'm thinking probably the latter so I'll answer on that basis. At this point you can either send him to your own doctor to be evaluated for any physical restrictions or you can accept the letter you've already got at face value. Once you feel you have in hand the most legitimate medication information that you're likely to get, you need to act on it. Letting him perform duties that are counter to his documented medical restrictions is definitely putting you at risk for W/C. It sounds like, from what you're saying, that this didn't start as W/C, but it could easily go that way.

    By "act on it," I mean accommodate if you can and, if not, let him take whatever FMLA or other leave benefits he's got coming, then ask for a medical update on his restrictions when that runs out. If you are able to offer him a job that meets his medical restrictions (now or later) and he declines it, that'll go a long way toward covering your ADA and W/C bases.
  • Agree with Whirlwind. What you are missing is that you have to talk to the ee, let him know about the letter etc. etc.
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