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Medical Leave
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We have an employee who injured his knee on June 11 and not only has not returned to work; he failed to keep his supervisor notified of his status until this week when we recieved his letter. His knee
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Medical Leave
posted at 7/12/1999 2:34 AM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 7/12/1999 Last: 7/12/1999 |
We have an employee who injured his knee on June 11 and not only has not returned to work; he failed to keep his supervisor notified of his status until this week when we recieved his letter. His knee injury has been filed with Worker's Compensation and he is scheduled for surgery. He informs us that he will be "laid up" for six months to a year. Are we under any obligation to place him on medical leave? His one year anniversary is in August, so as I understand FMLA, an employee must be employed for one year before qualifying for medical leave. He is not on company insurance. |
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Medical Leave
posted at 7/12/1999 4:31 AM EDT
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Posts: 946
First: 6/14/1999 Last: 12/14/2005 |
When you say "he injured his knee but failed to keep his supervisor notified", are you saying the company knew he had a Workers' Comp injury but didn't require verification of an inability to work for over a month or didn't respond to his failure to follow instructions to provide verification? Big mistake on your company's part. For FMLA, the employee must have worked for the company for at least 12 months and worked 1,250 or more hours during the 12 months prior to taking an FMLA leave.
Right now, though, the issue isn't FMLA, since the employee isn't qualified for it based upon what you said, but instead, the issue is what you do for employees who need medical leave and don't qualify for FMLA? Also, remember this is a Workers' Comp case, so any adverse action could be argued that the company is retaliating for having filed an industrial injury claim. |
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Medical Leave
posted at 7/12/1999 6:39 AM EDT
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Posts: 833
First: 6/11/1999 Last: 8/23/2001 |
Here's yet another instance where a policy with a finite period for employees who don't return would be a help.
In any case, now that there's a comp. claim, you'd need to check with your state's D.O.L. for the conditions in your state. Each state handles comp. a bit differently; some states afford employees guarantees and job protection, others offer absolutely nothing, and the rest are in the spectrum in between. You'd need to find out the protections extended to injured workers in your state. If there is a guarantee of rehire or reinstatement, and you have no internal policy governing those who cannot return, you'd need to take your lead from what you've done with others in a non-comp situation. As stated in the previous post, you need to make doubly sure your actions are not construed as being taken in retaliation for filing the claim. |
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