Concerns about Released Employee
Rockie
2,136 Posts
We have an employee who has been on FMLA and will probably qualify for ADA as well. She has bi-polar disorder, with many physical ailments as well.
Her performance has dramatically decreased in the last year or so. She has been out two weeks to get her medication in order. I began the interactive process with her, giving her a job description and advising that she needed to talk with her physician to assess whether she could perform the essential functions of the job.
Based on past performance,the supervisor has grave concerns over whether the individual can do this job. Her physician has now released her to come back to work with no restrictions. She is also going to provide me with a list of her meds.
Question now: I assume since she has been released by her physician with no restrictions and no accomodations asked for...this would become a performance issue if she is unable to perform her job, get to work on time, etc.?
This is becoming very frustrating as this is a very responsible position and the job has not been getting done and others are having to do the work, while she is out getting evaluated, gets meds adjusted, getting to work late, leaving early, etc.
If it becomes obvious that she cannot perform the functions of the job, what's the best way to proceed with this?
Her performance has dramatically decreased in the last year or so. She has been out two weeks to get her medication in order. I began the interactive process with her, giving her a job description and advising that she needed to talk with her physician to assess whether she could perform the essential functions of the job.
Based on past performance,the supervisor has grave concerns over whether the individual can do this job. Her physician has now released her to come back to work with no restrictions. She is also going to provide me with a list of her meds.
Question now: I assume since she has been released by her physician with no restrictions and no accomodations asked for...this would become a performance issue if she is unable to perform her job, get to work on time, etc.?
This is becoming very frustrating as this is a very responsible position and the job has not been getting done and others are having to do the work, while she is out getting evaluated, gets meds adjusted, getting to work late, leaving early, etc.
If it becomes obvious that she cannot perform the functions of the job, what's the best way to proceed with this?
Comments
You said she has been released by her physician with no restrictions or accomodations. Unless that changes, you are dealing strictly with her performance. The fact that she wants to give you a list of her meds though gives me pause. You might find you have some accomodations there. She might need more adjustments later, or she might need to take something that might cause other reactions (slurred speech or something). As long as her meds are working and not causing other problems then it is strictly a performance issue.
A word of caution though. While your frustration about her position is very understandable, you must be careful not to let it leak into how you handle the employee. If you do in anyway it would be considered FMLA retaliation. You definitely do not want to go there.
Before all this happened was this a marginal employee or a good one? Unless you suspect this employee is playing games with you and milking the system, I would advise you to do your best to bring her back into the fold and give her a little room to adjust to her meds, etc. An employee who has had a rough time but has an understanding employer is sometimes the most loyal and hardest working out there.
Good luck!