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Medical Excuse
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Medical Excuse
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I have an employee who is consistently late to work and now says she has a medical condition that makes her late.
I can't find anything under the HIPPA rules that tells me that I can ask this emplo
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Medical Excuse
posted at 7/8/2009 6:26 AM EDT
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Posts: 6
First: 10/27/2008 Last: 3/10/2010 |
I have an employee who is consistently late to work and now says she has a medical condition that makes her late.
I can't find anything under the HIPPA rules that tells me that I can ask this employee for a doctor's note stating that she has this condition. Does anyone know the answer? Anything would be appreciated. Lynn |
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Medical Excuse
posted at 7/8/2009 6:33 AM EDT
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Posts: 3870
First: 2/12/2002 Last: 11/2/2009 |
You can ask for a doctor's note. Better yet, if it's a medical condition then ask her to take a FMLA physician's certification and have her doctor fill it out (if your company and the employee are FMLA eligible).
If she provides neither within a week, start your disciplinary process. |
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Medical Excuse
posted at 7/8/2009 10:26 AM EDT
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Posts: 15
First: 3/20/2008 Last: 8/10/2010 |
A medical condition that makes her late to work?
I have to admit I do not keep up on my journal reading as much as I would like, but I can not think of such condition. The employee may have a medical condition that makes it take her longer to get ready, but as far as the late to work symptom, it can be solved by waking up sooner. If the employee gets the note I would be very interested in learning what the condition is. |
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Medical Excuse
posted at 7/9/2009 9:25 AM EDT
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Posts: 1771
First: 10/24/2002 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Morning sickness often makes pregnant employees late for work. Morning sickness (extreme debilitating nausea + throwing up) usually happens at the same time every day and goes on for at least an hour. When I have an employee with morning sickness that interferes with her work schedule, I usually just change her schedule slightly (if possible) to accommodate the sickness period. |
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Medical Excuse
posted at 7/9/2009 6:11 PM EDT
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Posts: 2146
First: 2/15/2006 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Both FMLA and ADA allow for the employer to request medical certification of any leave/accommodation requests. Even if you don't fall under FMLA or a disability under ADA, you can still request medical cerfication for non-FMLA/ADA needs.
While I don't know of specific conditions that require being late to work all the time, it could be side effects to meds, morning sickness, etc. And a slight schedule modification might solve the issue, like hrbth stated. But in both FMLA and ADA and non, it is the employee's responsibility to interact with the employer on their needs. This includes med certification. HIPAA really only covers medical information that the employer has received based on their knowledge under health insurance plans and doesn't cover information the employee provides HR. If the employee refuses to provide information based on HIPAA privacy, then they lose the rights that are afforded under FMLA or ADA (both laws have specific subsections regarding this...I am not at work this week, or I could give you specific cites). |
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