Find management, clinical, and paraprofessional positions in healthcare, nursing,
financial, construction, architecture, manufacturing and legal fields.

Employment Today™


"EMPLOYERS NEEDS TO WALK TIGHT ROPE IN ADDRESSING EMPLOYEE PROBLEM"

Dear Kathryn: In all my years, I've never experienced this problem before but now, it's causing more problems than I could dream of!

I hired a nurse manager for our facility that had great credentials and references. The very first day in our morning report meeting, she fell asleep, her head hitting the conference table! Needless to say, the person who was speaking at that time was ticked and I put the matter aside with a joke. Every day since, if not in our morning meeting, then at other times throughout the day, this talented nurse has been found snoozing.

I finally had to address the issue and asked her if she had a sleep apnea problem. She looked aghast and said she couldn't remember ever falling asleep during the day. I was somewhat embarrassed for her but thought the best thing to do was to suggest she go and get diagnosed and address the problem. Well, when my director of the facility found out, he went berserk because I suggested she get this problem looked into. He said I should have just fired her and not gotten into personal medical problems. He said that I was wrong in accusing her of having a medical problem in the first place.

Kathryn, this is a really good nurse and they're hard to find. I thought the professional and humane thing to do was to suggest help. Where did I go wrong and what can I do about this now?

CONFIDENTIAL PLEASE, Norwalk, CT

Dear "Nervous in Norwalk"

What's that old saying- "No good deed goes unpunished"? The problem isn't your heart, but the legalities that tie employers to following legal protocol when it comes to employees, especially in these litigious times.

I consulted one of my favorite legal gurus and here's what Attorney Brian Clemow's answer is: When you suggested that she seek medical attention as she may have a medical condition that can be resolved, you were suggesting she had a medical problem. By doing this you more or less hog-tied yourself to treating this as a disability. The employee, now, has all the cards! The employee can claim "ADA" (Americans with Disabilities) and you can be responsible for now accommodating this real or imagined "medical condition."

Even if she is proved not to be disabled with sleep apnea or another illness, once an employee is perceived by an employer to have a disabling condition, the employer is bound to provide accommodations. The accommodation you could be forced to provide is anything from a leave of absence while she deals with this problem to possibly some assistance on the job. What you should have done is to treat this as a disciplinary problem and stated the fact that falling asleep on the job is not something that you or the company can tolerate.

The employee needs to address this problem so that it doesn't re-occur. Give a time limit on it, and the employee then has the obligation to fix it. Do not ever suggest the employee has a medical issue.

Remember, you can tell the employee that you can't tolerate them being drunk on the job. You can terminate the employee for being drunk on the job. You can't terminate the employee that you accuse of being an alcoholic as he/she is then in a protected class under the ADA. Tricky stuff to be aware of in today's complicated human resource world.

Dear Kathryn:

I worked diligently for my employer for three years and after all I've done for them, I ended up getting the hatchet.

For two years straight, I was pretty much on time and had a decent attendance record. The last year has been tough for me personally and my tardiness record increased. I just have so much going on that getting to work on time with traffic and all, it's impossible to be there every day at 8:30, on the dot. The result was a pink slip last month.

I went to the unemployment compensation office not expecting any problems about getting unemployment comp as I had worked there for three years. Wrong! My employer appealed my request for unemployment compensation. How can they do that given my long employment record with them? I can't believe I could be stuck high and dry!

RACHAEL T., Moodus, CT

Dear Rachael:

Well, life's changing a bit for unemployment recipients that have tardiness records these days, and that doesn't spell good news for you.

While you won't like hearing this, the unemployment board has finally gotten a little bit more even-handed. Employees that think they can call the shots, come in late and still get unemployment comp are getting a rude awakening.

A recent CT situation comes to mind-a receptionist that was tardy 16 times was initially granted unemployment compensation. The employer appealed and the Board of Review reversed the decision and denied benefits! While attendance problems are generally not enough to warrant disqualifications, the Board this time felt that the receptionist's pattern of tardiness, despite repeated warnings, was ridiculous. The Board felt that this was serious enough to constitute willful misconduct.

As I'm not knowledgeable as to the specifics of your own tardiness issue, it's impossible to predict whether you'll get unemployment compensation. I will say however, that it seems as though the Review Board may finally be getting a more realistic vision on what's fair to employers and what's not.

It's bad when I hear over and over from employers that they love their business and don't even mind the long hours they put in-- it's their employees whom they can't stand.