Workers' Comp Question

bethk

I have a situation I'm not sure how to handle. One of our employees was to transfer to another location then got hurt on the job. Now he can come back to work with some restrictions. One of which he has to sit every 15 minutes. I'm not sure what his injury is. Typically in our environment, this isnt reasonable because we are a restaurant. We do have a lottery room at this location so he can work there and sit. To do this job requries a background check and it came up that he has 3 felonies against him, which we werent aware of. We don't hire felons when the job requries handling thousands of dollars.

Now is the dilemna. Because he can't work this position, what can we do? There is no other position to accomondate him.

I know it can get pretty sticky terming an employee who is on Workers' Comp.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Beth

sonny

Is there an indication as to how long the restricitions will apply? We would just leave him out on WC until his restrictions were lifted. Is he eligible for FMLA? We would only term as last resort after all other options were exhausted.

bethk

We're still waiting on the paperwork from the doctor. He hasn't been here long enough to qualify for FMLA.

From what I have read, we dont have to create a position for him so he can work. Since he can't work the lottery room the CEO has decided that he can't return to work until he is released fully.

tmperry

Just my two cents but the first thing I flagged on while reading this is - how long has he been employed with you? Does your application require them to disclose felonies? If so, and he didn't disclose them, you could be looking at falsification of documents on his application. If the scenario you described happened where I work - we'd be left with no choice but to terminate the employee.

bethk

He's been here just under 8 months. He did put on his application that he was a felon. The GM is going to answer to that one.

bbuckwalter

I think it depends on how your state's workers' com laws work. In Maryland, if there are work restrictions, and the employer does not have a position available that the employee can do within the restrictions, then the employee remains on Temporary Total Disability (TTD). There is also no restriction in Maryland from terminating an employee who is out due to a workers' comp injury. It is only illegal if the employee is terminated because he has made a workers' comp claim. If he was out too long, he could be terminated if you needed to hire someone to replace him.

In this scenario, it is a tough question as to whether you terminate because he was a felon because you hired him knowing he was a felon. That would be my only hesitation to terminating him now. If there was a significant and legitimate business reason for not hiring felons in his position, though, I would still consider terminating him. Again, though, I have no knowledge of Oregon law on these issues.