Accommodate during office construction?

Caroliso

Our office is being renovated, and the entrance to the area being renovated is near the reception desk. Our receptionist, Sharona, has severe asthma. On the first day of renovations, we sent her home (on the company's dime) after an hour because of coughing, etc. (There was a strong smell coming from the partition cordoning off the construction area.) The next day she called in and said she was not feeling much better and did not want to reactivate her asthma.
She came in today, and I determined to see how she did. (The smell is greatly diminished but not gone.) When I checked with her this morning she seemed okay. On the one hand I was prepared to let her sit there and respond if she feels poorly again. But part of me wonders if we should be proactive and not wait until she gets sick again before doing something. She is the sort who would not be proactive herself, although she wouldn't minimize her discomfort if asked. Perhaps we should relocate her, find something else for her to do in another area, or send her home on our dime for the duration of the construction, six weeks or so. Or, perhaps I should have her describe the situation to her physician and have him or her weigh in on whether she should continue to sit there.
What would you do? In truth, relocating her is problematic, because it takes away a chunk of her job that she's really good at, greeting people. She is not so good at computer or office tasks. But it is preferable to sending her home.
My other question is, does the fact that this person smokes have any place in my decisionmaking? I think I know the answer, but it does seem sort of ridiculous to jump through hoops when she does.
Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your wisdom.

Paul in Cannon Beach

First question, how long do you expect the renovation to last? Days? Weeks? Months?

Second question, is her name really Sharona?

Caroliso

Paul, you clearly were so dazzled by my entertaining pseudonym that you missed the fact that the construction will last another six weeks or so. x:D

Paul in Cannon Beach

I am sorry! I shouldn't post after 11 pm.

Brother Bluto

I'd gather the information about the environmental exposure, maybe an MSDS on the product(s) that are causing the smell, dust, etc. Set up an appointment for the employee with a company doctor and forward the environmental information along with the job description to the doctor. From your e-mail, it would apprear that the construction was expected to last six weeks - this is an awful long time to have someone sitting at home. Let the doctor determine what accommodations the company would need to make before jumping to conclusions or making accommodations. This may be a little odd since she is a greeter, but you might be able to offer the employee a respirator, just make sure you confirm which is the appropriate respirator for this application. I'm all for altering her work duties temporarily so she can be useful around the office and if it were for only a short period (couple days)I probably wouldn't hesitate or spend the money on a doctors visit, but paying someone to sit at home for six weeks would be worth the cost of a doctor's visit.

Caroliso

Thanks, Bro. We don't have a company doctor, would there be any problem in asking for an opinion from the employee's doctor? Obviously the outcome is more likely to be pro-employee but I supposed we could get a second opinion at the point at which we are told the only solution is absence from the work site... right?

Brother Bluto

Sorry, when I say "company doctor", I mean company "appointed" doctor; if your company uses a particular office for worker's comp. injuries for example, you have an established relationship with that office/doctor. That office should have been selected based on their experience/knowledge of handling worker's comp. related injuries/illness. This experience or familiarily with worker's comp. or industry related issues is to your company's advantage (pro-employer). The company "appointed" doctor is at the company's expense, which also translates to "(pro-employer) outcome". You have more control over managing the issue than if you ask the employee to go to their doctor and spend their money (get the picture?). I know this is eating away at your every fiber that your employee has severe asthma and still smokes and now she has to be absenct from work for respiratory related problems, but don't focus on that - forget it - it's none of your concern. Focus on the doctor telling you how your employee can stay on the job with minimal impact on their health to avoid complicating the issue. Hope this helps! And, don't hesitate to e-mail again if there are other questions!

Caroliso

Thanks, I did know what you meant, and in fact under a separate thread I asked for advice on how to establish a relationship with an external doctor's office for this purpose. You have supplied some helpful info in your post, however, and as well helpfully addressed my issue with the smoking. I knew I needed to let that one go.
A question about the company appointed doctor.. are there any HIPAA issues here? There have got to be situations where a one-hour physical is not a substitute for the years of diagnosis and care that an ongoing physician has provided for a chronic condition, and the company exam needs to be supplemented by a call to the longtime physician or a look at the person's records. Is that a problem?

Brother Bluto

I am by far no expert on HIPPA regulations. I would recommend that if you are really concerned about the HIPPA regs on this situation there are a few things to do; first, your company should have regs on HIPPA for you to reference, if not, you might have more work cut out for yourself than you thought depending upon how HIPPA affects your company and the situation, second, the physician's office personnel are very well versed in HIPPA regs - so, I wouldn't count on them giving you anything on a persons medical record that you or your company would not be permitted to have, third, you should be able to locate a form or the doctors office might be able to provide a form that the employee voluntarily signs granting permission to private medical information, forth, I wouldn't recommend going this route as you may find yourself in an ADA case - just stick to questions that would tell the company what the company would have to do during the construction to accommodate the employee temporarily - don't ask for a diagnosis of her health or medical history - that's not your concern. In establishing a relationship with a doctors office you should probably call around and ask other companies in the area which doctor they've been using for worker's comp. If you see that one doctor is used more than another, you might want to arrange a visit to the physician's office. They should have an office manager that will act as a PR person for the office. They should, as should you, arrange for a tour of your facility to include a physician, a nurse, the office manager, and/or any other person that will be included in the process when an employee is sent to the office. Having familiarity with each other's company will build a meaningful, tangible, and knowledgable relationship that comes with good service. (You probably found this out when you were trying to establish the relationship, but I thought I would tell you how I did it.)

E Wart

Before I took off and did anything more, I think I would sit down with the employee and let her know your concerns and you just wanted to make sure she felt ok. (I wouldn't volunteer anything more than that at this point.) If she said yes, let her know that if anything else happens that makes her feel like she might react, then to please see you as soon as possible. (All this is if the employee doesn't play up her illness and her problems, which it doesn't sound like she has done. I think to really handle this properly, you have to know this employee. Do they play up their illness or are they conservative about it?) If she says that she is still having problems, then I would let her know that you will need to get some professional help before you know what you can do to help her and then talk with your "company doctor" as mentioned before and let them know of the situation and that you need their help in solving it, not making it worse or playing it up. You could send her to them and get a better idea of things that you should/should not be doing. However, if she already has a doctor that she sees for this, you could even ask for their help but if outlandish, then have her see your doctor.
You may find that it will turn out to be nothing and the worst part is behind her.
I know when in one of my previous offices, each time they painted, I got a reaction and lost my voice (the office loved it.!)
E Wart

Paul in Cannon Beach

For six weeks, I would probably relocate her until the construction is over. Call it cross training. Give her a chance to brush up on those valuable computer skills and administrative functions.

Move her back as soon as she feels she can handle it. Perhaps she will get "better" faster than you think.

njjel

i would do everything I could to make her an accommodation. If she gets ill from the fumes and seeks medical treatment it would be a workers comp claim! Also if her throat should close b/c of the fumes, well you know the answer to that!

Rockie

I'd go ahead and relocate her if she has this condition. From someone is has gone thru and is still going thru renovations, constructions stirs up all kinds of debris, not to mention paint fumes, dust, dirt, mold, etc. We had to evacuate an entire floor one afternoon because the paint fumes were so strong it was giving everyone headaches. Better to do construction after hours if possible, but this is another story.

Caroliso

Okay, here is a new twist to this story. We have decided to relocate this person, and may even wind up sending her home, but that's a different matter. My question now has to do with her replacement. I have two options, one is to go through a temp agency, another is to offer the position to someone who is a friend of mine who has had an informational interview with the department manager when there were not jobs available, and would ordinarily be a candidate for an open position. I happen to know this woman has severe asthma also, and it would not be something she'd take. There is no way to configure the job and guarantee removal from the environment so she could "try it out."
So I guess my question is, what is my HR obligation here? I know if she presented herself as an applicant for a posted position (or a candidate throught the temp agency, for that matter) we could only describe the job and conditions thoroughly and ask if she could do the job Since I know she has asthma, can I take her name out of the running for this temporary position myself? if she asks, can I tell her that I did so because I knew she had asthma? And what do i tell the department manager, who is now asking if we can call XX and ask her if she's interested?

Brother Bluto

How close of a relationship do you have with this person? Have you been friends with this person long enough that you could just have a frank conversation with the person? Would working together potentially destroy the friendship? Have you ever worked with this person before? What is the nature of the relationship? My point is, if this is an old friend, she would probably appreciate the honest and direct approach regarding the position. She'd probably realize that she would be putting you in a bad situation by even applying for the position and back out all together. If your relationhip with the person developed on the job or you two are more casual friends you should handle the situation like any other applicant. I've always given plant tours to every potential candidate - it's a good way for the person to take in the environment that they'll be exposed to for eight hours a day. If they are the most qualifed applicant and still want the job, you might have to consider that individual. Outside of a medical diagnosis you're taking a chance making that call yourself removing one person with asthma and replacing them with someone else with asthma. You've already set past presidence for accomodation and you'll be forced to accomodate the replacement in the same fashion - kinda crazy!

Caroliso

Thanks for your comments. This person is a recent and casual friend, someone who's been out of work for a while for reasons out of her control as far as I can tell. Your questions regarding working together are good ones I should think about, but for the moment my feeling is if she qualifies for a job here and wants it, okay with me. I helped her by making the intro to the hiring manager, the rest is in her (manager's) hands and I will stay out of it.
Of course this one I couldn't stay out of. x:D What I wound up doing was calling CF (casual friend) and telling her straight out -- I wanted you to know that we have a temporary position but the person who is out is out because she can't continue to work in the current construction environment, and I can't in good conscience even start you on that path given what I know about your own health. She couldn't believe the irony but agreed and said there was no way she would put herself in that position either.

Caroliso

Just to report back on where things are now, I have asked the EE to have her doctor weigh in on this, in writing, and have put her on paid leave until I receive the document, which will take a couple of days.
I stopped short of saying "have your doctor write something that says you can't be here and I will give you paid time off" but it will be ironic if the doctor gives me something that says she can be here. Well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it....