Protected Employee?

yellowbrickroad

Hi all: We have an employee with multiple medical problems. Excellent employee, never been written up, late or any sort of problem. However one of the issues is a very foul smell, caused by one of his medical issues. He has been told by dr to have these dressings changed frequently. He is not doing this and the employees working around him are complaining profusly. He barely is able to walk, he is a vet. What can we do if anything?

Don D

Here are the things that don't matter:

He is a vet.
He has not presented problems before.
He has multiple issues.
He is an excellent employee.
He is barely able to walk.

All of those factors lend themselves to emotion based action or inaction on your part.

The only thing that matters, and must be dealt with, is that his behavior is negatively affecting coworkers and the workplace. Counsel with him directly and tell him it will not be acceptable to continue his inaction.

If it would be more productive, have a supervisory or male management team member close to his age deliver the message. But, the message must be clearly delivered, promptly.