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"THOUGH INJURED WHILE WORKING, EMPLOYER STILL WANTS TO GIVE EMPLOYEE THE BOOT!"

Dear Kathryn:

My employee's got me over a barrel, causing battles among us company owners and a mess in our accounting department.

Susan has worked here for five years. She does our books, payroll, general finance and accounting duties. Because her responsibilities are time-sensitive, confidential and complex, I don't feel they can be performed by a temp.

Four months ago, Susan had a car accident during work hours while traveling to our accountant's office. The result of the accident has been physical therapy requiring her to leave two hours early every day.

Since the accident, she has been coming in two hours late thus she's really only working four hours. The backlog of her work is enormous and I don't feel we can rely on her. Her doctor has said he has no idea how long she'll need the therapy "as everyone is different in responding." He's also said that her disability is what's causing her to move slowly each morning, resulting in her rolling in around 11 am.

Kathryn, we're a small company of thirty employees and we don't have a backup for this position. I feel we need to replace her, as her tardiness is impossible to deal with. My partner, however, says she's disabled and could sue us for not accommodating her problem. The reality is we've got a disaster in our finance area.

What are our options and how can we go about replacing her? Should we insist she see another doctor of our choice that could perhaps show she's stalling and taking advantage of her situation?

PAUL R., New Haven, CT

Dear Paul:

Understanding the critical nature of Susan's role in your company and the nightmarish long-lasting effect an accounting backlog can create, I empathize with you.

I can't ignore the fact, however, that Susan didn't bring this situation on herself. To make such a strong statement that "she's taking advantage of the situation", you had better have additional information. If you don't, you're downright pigheaded to cynically surmise she's enjoying her two hours off in the morning and daily physical therapy.

Before my legal eagles give you their take on the situation, I'm wondering why you didn't immediately retain a strong part-time accounting temp to assume the more menial accounting duties. You could allow Susan to focus on the heavier, more complex duties during her four hours working, while the part-timer handles the lesser duties.

As to whether you can terminate Susan, it's a bit tricky. Attorney Brian Clemow of Shipman & Goodwin reminds us that under the ADA (Americans with Disability Act), an employer has to be able to prove they provided "reasonable accommodations" to the injured party. Clemow feels you've endured the absences for a substantial period of time, and be it that your company is small, you'd probably be fairly safe in terminating her and replacing the position.

Clemow and Attorney George O'Brien Jr. of Tyler, Cooper & Alcorn both feel you should not involve another physician's opinion as he would very possibly just reconfirm what the first doctor stated.

I feel you should give this decision further thought before terminating a five year employee who has made efforts to show up daily, even if it has been for four hours.

Dear Kathryn:

I've never had to use a recruiter to get a job in the past, but as I have limited interviewing time and want to negotiate a bigger salary this time around, thought I'd consider a headhunter to assist me in my job search.

I've heard some horror stories from friends regarding recruiters, while others reported their experience as wonderful. How do I go about figuring out which recruiting agency is the best one for me and will work for me, not just to make a placement fee?

I have fifteen years office management and accounting experience and have a lot for them to market. What's my next best step?

RACHAEL T., Woonsocket, RI

Dear Rachael:

While recruiters are not for every job hunter, I'm fairly confident that you'd benefit from a good permanent placement agency given your specialty and years of experience.

Your first goal is to identify which agencies handle your specialty and salary range. An executive search firm that may handle finance, but typically high level controllers and positions of 100k on up, won't have much interest in, nor positions for which you'd qualify, thus would be a time-waster.

Look beyond the recruiting firm's specialty and check out their job postings. Inquire as to the numbers of positions they represent within your salary range, specialty and locale. You don't want to be sending your resume to twenty agencies, giving yourself false hopes that everyone's working for you when your resume was immediately placed in the circular file (trash.

Search firms are interested in you to the degree that you fit the needs of their current clients. Recruiting firms are client-driven (meaning employer driven) not candidate driven. It's unrealistic to expect they'll be investing days marketing you and your wish list when they're getting paid by the employer to find them their dream candidate.

As to what you can do:

+Pay attention to whether the recruiter listens to your needs versus what they try to have you interview for. Does the recruiter describe the potential job the same as what you learn about the position during the employer interview? While it's not uncommon to have minor differences given how employer's change job specs from minute to minute, more than two interviews with job descriptions materially different than what you were initially told is a bad sign.

+While candidates are sometimes tempted to inflate their current salaries and job descriptions, stifle anything other than presenting the truth. Once recruiter suspects you're trying to put something over on him, your resume will be recorded as "trouble."

+Be upfront as to what other sources you're using in your job search and where you've sent resumes. You and the agency look foolish when they're selling you to places other recruiters have presented you for or you've already interviewed. Three agencies are more than sufficient if you've done your homework on who's right for you.

Good luck.