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Doctor's orders

anitajwhiteanitajwhite 2 Posts
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Hello everyone!

Our Assistant General Manager just informed me of a conversation he had with one of our supervisors and it concerns me a great deal. The supervisor informed the Assistant General Manager of a doctor's note she has stating she is to stop working indefinitely due to a brain tumor. (She has had surgery for this very thing in the past.)

She then told him she was not going to give us the note because she does not want to quit working.

I've never had this happen. I'm sure there has been a time or two that an employee has neglected to inform us of an issue but I've never had them tell a member of management of their intent.

I need help with this one; I'm in unfamiliar territory.

Thanks for any advice,

Anita

 

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  • 3 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • TXHRGuyTXHRGuy 1,586 Posts
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    This is one of those spirals that some people just have to go down.  Either the person is lying to the AGM or the person is putting the company in danger of increased risk of workers' comp claims or, even, an OSHA problem, depending on what the supervisor actually supervises.

    Take a look at this discussion on ADA and forcing a person to take a physical: http://community.blr.com/hr/forums/thread/4954.aspx
    If this person supervises something that could put others in danger or if their own performance has gone down significantly (to the point that it meets the harming company efficiency threshold), it's a no-brainer: send her out for a fitness for duty test and check with your attorney about HIPAA/ADA/state privacy obligations before you inform the healthcare provider that the person has claimed to be told not to work because of a brain tumor problem and that the person has had surgery in the past for a brain tumor.

    You can tell the individual that they may not return to work without a work authorization from a doctor.  When the person comes with that note, probably from a different provider, you then ask them why they claimed to be advised not to come to work.  If they are defiant and make it clear they're trying to game the system, go down the path of asking them why they would provide a false or misinformed medical opinion to the Company and see if this person will step over the line into the realm of breaching your policies on providing false information.  Call your attorney for options and direction while the person is out getting a return to work authorization.  If they say that it's all better now, and your attorney has nothing better for you, at least you've covered your company as well as you can.  Document, document, document.

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  • anitajwhiteanitajwhite 2 Posts
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    I guess it would have helped if I had mentioned what the supervisor supervises. We are a casino. She is a shift supervisor. It's all about covering shifts, taking care of customers, and making sure the machines are up and running.

    I'm going now to check out the discussion on ADA.

    Thank you,

    Anita

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  • TXHRGuyTXHRGuy 1,586 Posts
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    OK, so your only ADA qualified case could be made if this person's performance declined to the point that it met the harming business efficiency threshold.  If this person works with large sums of money and there is a measurable change in cash handling errors, that would probably suffice.
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