URGENT help needed

NaeNae55 · January 2003

We are a very small company (under 20 EEs). One of our employees who has a data entry job has been hanging out in the mail room a lot lately. The mail person's job is partial mail and partial data entry. The employee in question has told the mail person that her wrists are bothering her a little and so is helping out to give her wrists a break and to help with mail which has been heavy lately. The mail person told the administrative secretary who works closely with them, and she told me.

I peeked into her work area and it looks to me as if the keyboard is not set up right. I have made arrangements to have someone come out and tour the facility and give us pointers, etc, to help us avoid problems. They were originally scheduled to come out tomorrow, but it has been postponed to Thursday. I felt a third party visit would correct the keyboard issue without causing hard feelings, and give the employee an opportunity to voice any problems.

What is our responsibility here if the employee has not come to me or gone to her supervisor? Do we need to be more proactive? The supervisor came to me to see if she could talk to her employees and insist they stay in their own work areas and let her decide who should help the mail process, if any help is needed. We are concerned that this might make a bad situation worse and anger a good employee (employee has already not been happy for last few weeks due to a variety of work and personal issues).

I thought having some outside help was the best way to deal with it. I felt I should not approach the employee if she had not complained to her supervisor or me. Was I wrong? Should I approach her without her coming to me? Should we put off the talk by the supervisor limiting employee movement until after the visit this Thursday by outside people? I do not want to upset any of our employees if possible, but I don't want to increase our liabilities by "wimping" out. The supervisor is expecting a response from me pronto, but I am at a loss.

Please help!

watrsflo · January 2003

The best thing you can do at this point is talk with the employee. First of all, share with her what you've heard--that her wrists are bothering her and she's been seeking relief in the mailroom. Explain that you're concerned about her well-being, but also remind her that she needs to apprise her supervisor in such instances, so she can receive the support she might need. As to her self-appointed assignment to the mailroom, let her know that if this is what's necessary, then it can be arranged; but that in the future she must work through her supervisor.

It's far better to be pro-active with potential problems of this nature than to hope they'll go away. Besides, you'll want to show your good faith to this employee before the TV Disability Attorneys and lunch-room lawyers sink their hooks into someone who may truly be at the onset of such problems. Such health problems are real, and you'll be in a far better position to win-over this employee to the interests of the company if you're able to demonstrate that the company truly does care about her, her productivity, and your future together.

Balloonman · January 2003

It is critical that you be proactive with the employee. First it is the right thing to do, as you need to look out for their well being on the job. Be proactive, showing concern goes a long way in preventing workers' compensation claims. Second, you can do quite a bit by making sure the work station is ergonomically correct. What you also want the person to do, is evaluate the tasks this person performs with their job. Is is just data entry or does she do some other minor tasks and filing also. If there are a multitude of other smaller tasks you may want to evaluate when they are being performed. By incorporating them into certain times of the day it will give a break from just going hours with data entry alone. Something to consider if you have some other administrative tasks in the office you could use some help with.
Also by addressing things early you may find it is just a mild case of tendonitis, and in fact nothing more. Do not assume it is just work related. What a person does away from work can go a long way to causing repetitive motion injuries, though many do not like to acknowledge this.
I hope this helps. The fact that you are bringing in someone from the outside shows concern and should be well received. Make sure you have them evaluate all of your workstations while they are there, get the most out of the time they spend.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Gillian · January 2003

Ditto to both responses.

NaeNae55 · January 2003

Thanks so much for your responses. I was hesitant to approach the employee because though this company has a very good work atmosphere, lately there have been a few incidences between employees. This particular employee has been involved in some way in every case, and I was fraid if I approached her directly there might be a blowup between her and the employee she confided in for sharing private information. I don't want any more employee conflicts, especially with this employee as management is beginning to look at her as a trouble maker. I don't think she would make something like this up, but I would not be surprised if the problem had been exaggerated due to so many other issues going on in her life.

Again, thanks for your advice!

Margaret Morford · January 2003

You may want to send the employee for a carpal tunnel evaluation. I read a recent article that almost 50% of suspected carpal tunnel turns out to be misdiagnosed.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

URGENT help needed

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