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Help!! Employee Issues with Their Prescription Meds!!

BootsieBootsie 10 Posts
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
This is a super sensitive issue that I need to address as soon as possible. I have a lady who is a Supervisor, that is on several different types of medications (hydrocodone being one of them) and I am wondering if 1-can I ask her for a list of all meds that she is on and 2-her work performance is seriously lagging in all areas and I am wondering if a) we can ask her to take a leave of absence to get it together or b) terminate her all together without any problems.
I hope one of you HR folks has been through this and know the legal way around a situation such as this. HELP!
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  • 3 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • HR In NHHR In NH 64 Posts
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    [font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-04-07 AT 08:05AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Due to HIPPA and other privacy considerations, you can only require an employee to make you aware of medications that could affect their ability work safely or the safety of others.

    I would have a serious talk with her about her work performance and encourage her to discuss any reasons why it might be suffering lately. If she comes forward with a medical reason, you could offer FMLA (or other personal leave, if she is not FMLA eligible) or other reasonable accommodations, especially if it's an ADA issues (such as a temporarily reduced work schedule. or temporarily reassigning some of her work duties).

    If she does not come forward with a medical reason and/or refuses your offer of leave/accommodations, than I would notify her that her performance issues will be addressed just like any other performance situation.

    Then, begin the disciplinary/performance improvement process. If this leads to termination, then so be it. The ADA and general employment law do not protect an employee with sub-standard work performance, if reasonable accommodations do not assist the problem, or if the employee refuses assistance (I would get an refusal documented in writing).

    However, for legal and ethical reasons and for morale, you should attempt to help this employee with her current situation before throwing your hands up and terminating her.
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  • AJ SPHRAJ SPHR 319 Posts
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    BTW, it's HIPAA, and HIPAA only applies to a covered entity and protecting the transmission of electronic PHI.

    I do agree with the other part of your post in that I would not assume her performance issues are related to any medications or other medical reasons. Deal with performance and let the rest of it alone.

    However, we do have a statement in our Drug/Alcohol policy about prescription medicine, informing employees that if they are taking prescription meds that are affecting their performance, they should notify us so that we can make reasonable accommodations, such as a medical leave.
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  • davidsdavids 427 Posts
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    I agree with HR in NH. I would not assume that the performance issues are the result of medication. I would address the performance and give the employee every opportunity to raise the medication or underlying medical condition as the cause of the performance issues. If she does raise the connection, then I would explore FMLA, ADA, etc. If she does not make the connection, treat it as a performance issue.

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