Can we reclassify or terminate?

BLC

If a full time employee working for a company not subject to FMLA is released by a physician to return to work after an illness or injury with restrictions that prevent them from being able to work a minimum of 8 hours per day, can they be reclassified part-time or terminated if a part-time condition causes undue hardship to the company?

pv25

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-15-01 AT 01:04PM (CST)[/font][p]I think you're going to have a hard time getting an aswer to this question because it is so fact specific. Obviously, if this is a work injury, you've got to deal with workers' compensation issues. If not, there is always the ADA (if you're covered) and your state disability discrimination law (if there is one). I think you should find an employment lawyer in your area.

System

I agree with pv25. If it's a workers' comp injury, you don't want to retaliate. And if it's a disability, the ADA might require a reasonable accommodation. You might want to talk to a lawyer in your state.
[url]http://www.hrhero.com/findanattorney.shtml[/url]

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

tom

If there are no positions that meet the restrictions imposed by the employee's physician, you would not be obligated to create a part-time position or continue to employ that employee. You would be free to hire someone who can perform fully the duties of the position. However at our company, we attempt to work with whatever restrictions are practical for our business, especially if the injury/ illness is temporary or expected to be of short duration. This could mean allowing the person to gradually work back into a full-time position- or we look for positions that might be better suited to that employees' capabilities, either on an on-going basis or for the short term. We instruct our staffs to try to work with employees if at all possible.
Tom