FML for "stress"
HRinVA
52 Posts
Situtation: Employee was recently disciplined for leaving work without permission. Then yesterday, she announced that she has an appointment with our EAP on 8/1 and that she will not be back at work until after the appointment, due to stress.
Background: Employee has been complaining that she has not been trained on new equipment while other, younger employees are. (These employees were recently hired for these responsibilities). Supervisor has told her that he is not going to train her in a new area until her performance and attendance in her current responsibilities improve. She claims she is stressed b/c she is not being trained on the new equipment.
Supervisor wants to treat this as another unexused absence and discipline, but are we obligated to go the FML route, based only on her statement that she is "stressed" (no doctor's note).
Background: Employee has been complaining that she has not been trained on new equipment while other, younger employees are. (These employees were recently hired for these responsibilities). Supervisor has told her that he is not going to train her in a new area until her performance and attendance in her current responsibilities improve. She claims she is stressed b/c she is not being trained on the new equipment.
Supervisor wants to treat this as another unexused absence and discipline, but are we obligated to go the FML route, based only on her statement that she is "stressed" (no doctor's note).
Comments
As far as we know, she has not even seen a doctor yet, all we have is her statement that she is stressed and that she is going to access the EAP.
Stress. Ha!
I would send her the paperwork and inform her that she is required to provide the medical certification verifying her need for time off work. See what happens and if the doctor certifies the condition, there isn't much you can do, although I would be tempted to fight it if the doctor certifies her off for an entire week without having seen her.
However, there could be another issue brewing. Your statement that "younger" employees have been trained on new equipment, but she has not, raises the flag of a possible age discrimination claim. So, the first question I would want answered from the supervisor is: Is the employee being held accountable for work that requires the use of the new equipment? If yes, then he better start training her on the new equipment immediately. If not, he needs to make sure the employee understands that she should not be using the equipment. It could be that what the employee characterizes as "stress", is really "worry" that she is being expected to perform on equipment that she doesn't know how to use.