When to terminate
GLC
174 Posts
We are considering putting a policy in place that would allow us terminate an employee if they did not return to work after some type of medical leave. Over the last year, we have had two situations to come up. One employee had worked for us for six months, had a heart attack and was off work for six months. She was not eligible for FMLA so we held her job for as long as we could. We finally terminated her after 6 months. We did not have anything in writing that states we will terminate employement if an ee cannot return in so many months. Then, we had an employee who took 14 weeks of FMLA, could not return for an additional month. She was not classify as disabled, she just could not work. No accomodation would have helped her. I want to be consistent in my decision to terminate. My boss wants to look at performance as a basis for who we keep and how long you give them to return to work. Do other companies have policies in place that state that an ee will be terminated if they do not return to work in a certain # of months. If so, is it a separate policy or incorporated into another one. What is the policy called?
Comments
>another. You set yourself up for past practice issues. You could add
>to your policy a statement that said additional leave beyond approved
>FMLA would be up to the discretion of HR. That may give you some room
>for play.
scottorr - What criteria would you as HR use as discretionary to make such a decision? You should treat EVERYONE equally according to your policy or in the absence of one, past actions.