Can you discipline a diabetic employee for not taking care of his condition resulting in company exp
towboatmama
1 Post
We have a diabetic employee who has passed out at work 4 times this year, resulting in 4 ambulance calls to the workplace. Is it appropriate to place this employee in discipline? <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
According to his coworkers he just shows up for work with no plans, meals, or cash to keep his blood sugar levels up and possibly depends on others to feed him. I’d like to discipline for showing up being ill- prepared to work. Sounds mean but sooner than later someone is going to find him bleeding in a heap somewhere because he didn’t (or couldn’t or wouldn’t) provide himself enough nourishment to keep his sugars level. I want to discipline.
Comments
Seek legal counsel. You are looking at taking a very aggressive path.
Personally, 100 words of counseling is probably worth 1,000 words of discipline and perhaps a few million in "oops" if you don't get summary judgement.
I absolutely agree with TXHRGuy on this one. You need to talk to your attorney. You could talk to the attorney about disciplining based upon safety but I wouldn't do this without legal advice. You are looking at a possible ADA issue here that you may need to make accomodations for.
It can be very confusing and frustrating when an employee does not take care of themselves and then crashes or cannot report into work because of it.
First, you can't only go by the information from coworkers, nor can you say so when having a discussion with this person.
Second, I have lived by this adage and it has served me well "Discipline breeds responsibility, punishment hurts"
You are angry with good reason, but in HR, one must stay objective.
Chances are, there is more to this story anyway. Look at the facts, why would anyone put themselves in that position? No food, no money, no medication? Why not? Is this really diabetes, only? There are so many variables to consider when employees act like this, for example, is this unsual for this person, has he/she been able to get their job done satisfactorily? How is this affecting the work of other staff? Do they actually need some support? Take the high road first.
Your best direction should be to contact your attorney and get educated on this type of situation. You should be able to learn what your options are so you can be well prepared for a discussion with this person. Additionally, your focus always needs to be based on productivity. Therefore, if this person has had a drop in productivity or is not producing according to the expectations set forth upon employment, you can base your discussion around those issues and perhaps put an action plan together. You may find eventually, this person needs to go. You may also find that your discussion and guidance may help someone and turn them around. Although it's not our job to go too deep into the counseling, it is our job take steps to turn things around, then if they do not, you have leverage to terminate..
I hope you are able to resolve this problem
I agree with the other postings as well, always consult with your attorney first so that you can conduct your next steps appropriately.
Good Luck.