What happens when your previously top-performing employee starts having attendance issues? Sounds like a no-brainer, no? You talk to the employee and document the verbal counseling. If it continues you might progress to a write-up. What happens when s/he tells you s/he has been diagnosed with depression, and is adjusting to medications? Your first thought […]
What (NOT) To Do When Your Employee Gets Injured on the Job…
Your employee incurs a slip-and-fall injury. What do you do? You might be thinking this is a trick question. Isn’t it what some would call a no-brainer? Give him/her a claim form, report the injury to your workers’ comp carrier and have the carrier-designated physician conduct a medical examination and see what’s to be done […]
Can an Ineligible Employee Get FMLA Leave?
Wait is this a trick question or has the writer (yours truly) lost her marbles? (Are those options mutually exclusive?) An employee ineligible for FMLA leave, by definition can’t get FMLA leave, right? I mean the employee has to meet specific criteria, the reason for the leave must meet certain criteria. Heck, if the employer […]
Can You Eliminate a Position…After the Employee Returns from FMLA Leave?
If you have 50 or more employees, chances are, you’ve dealt with at least one employee taking and returning from FMLA leave. If you’ve weathered at least one recession or other financial ups and downs, you’ve probably had to downsize. What happens when both occur at the same time? What happens when you have an […]
Wake Up! You May Not Be Able to Fire an Employee For Sleeping on the Job…
I think we can all agree that employers are entitled to expect employees to show up to work and actually work. That means employees shouldn’t be coming in late, leaving early, gossiping, surfing the internet or engaging in other similar activities when they should be working. They generally shouldn’t be sleeping on the job either. […]