Intermittent FMLA
Rockie
2,136 Posts
We have an employee who has multiple issues, both physical and psychological. Her work performance has been steadily declining for the past year or so. (Documented). In February,she pursued intermittent FMLA for treatments that she needed to take.
She really can no longer function in the job and will be talking with me today. She may request a leave of absence, but I'm not sure this is going to resolve her problems.
I am sure this will fall under ADA as well and we may have to go thru the interactive process in this case.
If the employee's performance is suffering and she can no longer do the job, what are our alternatives here? Do we have to give her the leave and hold the job until she exhausts the FMLA and then go thru the ADA process? She has stopped going to the doctor because she said she can't afford it and it is not helping anyway.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
She really can no longer function in the job and will be talking with me today. She may request a leave of absence, but I'm not sure this is going to resolve her problems.
I am sure this will fall under ADA as well and we may have to go thru the interactive process in this case.
If the employee's performance is suffering and she can no longer do the job, what are our alternatives here? Do we have to give her the leave and hold the job until she exhausts the FMLA and then go thru the ADA process? She has stopped going to the doctor because she said she can't afford it and it is not helping anyway.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Comments
1) Declining performance (is it because of her health issues?,
2) ADA?
3) FMLA?
4) No longer seeking treatment?
Here is my suggestion...
Deal with the performance issue alone. Tell the EE that she is no longer performing to standard and use whatever documentation you have. If the meeting today is disciplinary, have the disciplinary action ready. If she responds that her declining performance is due to her health issues (do NOT be the one to bring this up), inform her that she is still responsible to meet performance expectations as long as she is working. If she states that she needs some type of LOA, give her a new set of FMLA paperwork and inform her that she has 15 days to get that paperwork completed verifying the need for the LOA. As for the ADA issue, do not even go there unless she states that she needs some type of accomodation and at that point inform her that she needs to bring in doctor's certification regarding her health condition as well as what type of "accomodation" she needs. Then at that point you can review the information to determine whether she qualifies for ADA protection and whether her accomodation request is reasonable.
Based on your post it appears that you are at the beginning stages of what could be a very lengthy process. CYA and do NOT make any suggestions regarding an LOA unless she brings it up first. Do NOT bring up accomodations unless she does. Basically address her performance and let her take it from there.
Good Luck!