I'm sooo depressed

Evergreen · August 2004

I have an ee that is going thru anti-depression drugs to "find the one that works best". Problem is, he has to de-toxify himself between drugs. This creates a dr. heckle/mr. hyde personality situation for up to 3 days in which he blames the drugs. Of course, he does this during the week. Can we ask him to better schedule his down times, or would that be crossing the line.

mwild31 · August 2004

Been there, done that with an ee. Right, wrong or indifferent, I told the ee that his job performance and that of his co-workers was suffering. I told him he qualifies for all of the federal and state protections, but they all require that he has to show up and do his job in a satisfactory manner. Then I opened up a dialoge with the ee to see how best we might accomodate his issues and what work-arounds were available. In my case, the ee immediately spoke with his doctor and took 3 weeks off (FMLA) to adjust to medication. He came back after the three weeks with no further problems. Good luck!

Don D · August 2004

Very simply suspend the employee and require a fitness for duty without restrictions before you allow him to return to work. It's a safety situation no matter what your industry is and no matter what the employee's job description is.

LarryC · August 2004

Along with what Mandi and Don said, let me add that medical conditions do not excuse an employee from adhering to company policies and rules of conduct. Mr. Hyde must follow the same rules of conduct as Dr. Jeckle.

Evergreen · August 2004

Thank you for your input. We have suspended the ee for 3 weeks w/o pay. We will meet on a return day and determine if he is to return to a full ee, and at what status.

I'm sooo depressed

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