Shingles?

HRMaid · April 2003

I need some experienced help with this situation.

We're a small (30-40 employees) retail and service business in Texas. Our office manager/corporate level accountant/payroll/benefits person (She's been here for years and does it all!) left word Saturday that she has a severe case of shingles. She's in constant pain and is headed for the doctor again today, Monday. She's in her late-50's and under a lot of stress, both on and off the job.

Our store-level accountant left last month and no one else has cross-trained in the procedures for accounting that has to be done every day. No one is trained in payroll either and payroll data for the month comes in on Thursday. Checks are due the following Wednesday. She's the one I usually go to to vent and brainstorm problems. I've managed not to panic... YET!

If anyone has experience with an employee having shingles, please let me know what kind of situation(s) to anticipate. What can we do to help her and make her more comfortable? How long is she likely to be off work? Do we need to take precautions to protect other staff from the Chicken Pox virus that causes shingles? Should we warn vendors, reps, and other associates? Are there ADA considerations with the long-term effects?

sonny · April 2003

I am not a Dr. and it is from her Dr. that you should get info., but I will offer info. based on my knowledge of family members and friends who have had it.
1. Severity varies..I don't think you can predict how long she will be off.
2. I am not aware of anything as an employer that you can do to make her more comfortable, but you can ask her.
3. Shingles is not contagious so you needn't "warn" anyone.

Lola815 · April 2003

It might be awhile...we have an employee who has been out for the last three weeks and he is still out because of shingles.

Hatchetman · April 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-28-03 AT 03:14PM (CST)[/font][p]Try the web address below for shingles information:
[url]http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/shingles_doc.htm[/url]

ADA may kick in for reasonable accommodaiton if it turns out that the employee winds up having a long-term bout, several months, with shingles that significantly impairs one or more major life activities.

However, if the episode lasts as normally anticipated, about 5 weeks, I don't think EEOC or a court would find that to be long-term wihin the meaning of ADA.

Just my non-lawyer opinion.

FMLA may kick in, though.

System · April 2003

[url]http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/shingles_doc.htm[/url]

Sorry, I can't get the link to work but above is the path for info on Shingles.

Not a doctor yet, but my experience with this disease is it can run from little problem to extremely painful. When it is extremely painful it's a bear. Can last more than a month. Other employees can get chicken pox if they've never had it.
Hope you have a good Payroll/Account Temp agency in the area. They should be able to help you out.

Leslie · April 2003

Isn't that what Letterman just had? I know there's all types, and severity differs, but he was out two weeks - came back then was out again last week.

Balloonman · April 2003

You are correct it was what Letterman had. Sounds like they can be a real pain in the as*! x:D
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Rockie · April 2003

Shingles can be very severe and very painful. Basically, the virus attacks the nerve endings, but can attack organs. In the case of David Letterman, the virus settled in his eye and that's what's caused his major problem.

Average time out would be anywhere from one to three months, depending on the severity.

This would definitely qualify for FMLA if the person meets the requirements of FMLA, Good lesson to learn - always have a back up for payroll. (No one wants to do it!)

HRMaid · April 2003

Thanks for all the information. It is as I feared, but at least now I have that confirmed.

The boss is convinced she will be back on Thursday to handle payroll. He will not consider a temp. He won't even discuss alternatives for getting the work done with other current staff (that would be me.) 8-|

She and I will end up handling this via courier, phone, and email. I'm sure we'll manage. We always do. However, I want to be very careful not wear her down further. Shingles sounds bad enough without more stress.

DeidreFR5 · April 2003

I've had shingles. In order to get shingles, one has first to have had chicken pox. The virus stays in your system (usually nerve endingings) and usually nothing else happens. But, it can reappear at any time as shingles, usually the flare up is stress related, although it can accompany other illnesses. When I had it, you could trace my entire nerve system on my back and sides. It was extremely painful and extemely itchy at the same time. I had a very high fever for a couple days. My doctor put me on hard core anti-viral medical that she verified my insurance would cover before even writing the prescription, because they are so expensive. I only lost three working days, but had the shingles for about a month. My doctor had warned me that sometimes when the areas are healing, they "weep" like a blister (mine didn't) and these could(but its not likely) cause chicken pox in someone who has never had them. But they would also have to have physical contact this the "weeping". Generally, employees should not be this close to each other.

The worst part is, some people only get them once (I have been lucky so far) but they say once you get them, you are likely to get them again. Which makes sense since they tend to be stress induced. But some people never get over them. The older you are, the worse they are.

Hope this helps.

Shingles?

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