disability or vacation or reasonable accommodation

tiffanydee

We have a banking person in our co. who had hurt his back in the past (a long time ago) at home.  He recently hurt his back again in the shower at home.  I was just told today he will be out two weeks on Monday.  His doctor said he can work P/T, but his manager told me he really wants him here full time.  He did not ask for reasonable accommodation, but we have to get back to him.  What can we do?  Do we have to accommodate him?  He exhausted all his sick time and has 8 vacation days left.  We do not apply to FMLA yet.  He travels outside and also works his desk. Each day is different  Please let me know what we have to do with him.  Can we ask him to take his vacation days then leave of absence?

HRgsf

He might not have an ADA disability if it's a temporary condition, but if you don't let him work PT it might look like he was "regarded as" disabled by the company. Some courts have said that you have to accommodate if an employee is regarded as disabled. Maybe he can work PT and use his vacation time for the balance of the time.  If there have been other similar cases you'll need to look at how company policy was applied for those employees.  Since it's a 2 week period, it seems like his manager would be better off letting him work PT instead of taking vacation and unpaid time and not having him work at all? Good luck!

GoPatsNH

Also, depending on where you are, your state might have a mandatory disability insurance law you should check out...