Is a "real" doctor in the house?

franfields

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 02-12-03 AT 04:46PM (CST)[/font][p]One of our ee's has said he needs an ergonomic chair because of a back problem. He even took himself to the emergency room over the weekend thinking he was having a heart attack and it was blamed on a disk problem.

He has presented a "Return to Work Recommendations" form from a Chropractic Health practitioner advising us he needs the chair. Can we require he get something from a medical practioner?

We believe others will ask for the chairs which cost $750 if he gets one, so we want to be sure we don't jump in. As a side note, I would personally like to see him get better and, although I have nothing against chiropractic, I would like to see him go to a regular MD.

Advise, oh wise ones?

Parabeagle

Just a SWAG on my part, but I would presume you could require him to get a certification from an MD (provided your co. was willing to foot the bill for the consultation, or it was covered by medical insurance) rather than relying on the chiropractor.

Also, you may want to check your workers' comp carrier. Sometimes they have available funds/subsidies to defray the cost of "going ergonomic," even if the injury isn't work-related.

franfields

I guess the question really is, if this is not work related, what is our obligation to provide the chair?

Whatever

The Americans with Disability Act is not limited to workers comp. injuries or illnesses. The next step has to be to get an opinion from m.d. (hopefully one who specializes in these type of conditions).

Nurse Recruiter

You can ask for a second opinion if your company chooses to pay for a physician to review the need for the chair. Are Chiropractors considered to be "independant health practitioners" in your state? They are in many states. If so, you are definitely on the hook to pay for the MD's opinion if you feel it is needed. Good luck!

njjel

Does the ADA come in to play here? If it does, then supplying the chair would more than likely be considered a reasonable accommodation.

franfields

Thanks everyone. We decided the chair is probably a reasonable accomodation. Only thing is we are going to see if we can find a chair that serves the same purpose but is less costly.

Balloonman

A better chair would help, but there are lumbar supports you can purchase to place behind his back to help the situation also. You might contact your WC carrier and see if they could and come out to perform an ergonomic evaluation of the work stations. That might help, also, most other fixes are quite economical.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman