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I have a part time handyman who refuses to do certain jobs citing medical condition. He supposedly has some heart condition; thus he refuses to lift a lot of stuff (like a 5 gallon of paint). While I understand the medical consideration, the fact that he cannot perform as other handymen is brewing discontent.
Making things worse, the staff in question feels he's JUSTIFIED in refusing to do certain tasks because of the medical condition. That attitude also gets to people.
Should I let this guy go? From management perspective, I need people to perform.
Yes. If you have another position that he is qualified to do, you might suggest he apply for that opening, but if not you have to let him go. It's unfortunate, but these things happen. It's why we have a Disabled category to Social Security.
But you missed (or intentionally ignored) the entire section linked on that website about the PROCESS and REQUIREMENTS to determine if a person is not qualified. You also need to know that "Not Qualified" termination is not the same thing as "Unable to Perform Essential Duties With an Accommodation" termination.
Since the OP is talking about a person already employed doing or has previously done most duties and there was no mention of a change in duties, and the person raised a health issue, the "Not Qualified" wouldn't apply. So we have the "Reasonable Accommodation" which is or should now be in play. Unfortunately the OP has not mentioned anything about or came back to address the ADA process, so we can take it that they are stumbling about in fog. Hopefully they are not dumb enough to listen to the "terminate the person" crowd without following the process under ADA.
Once again, follow the links in the link you posted and you'll see there much more to this than your simple finding of a sentence that talks about "deemed not qualified" even if that's not the basis of this thread.
Been down this road on many occasions. There is a lot to take into consideration but your main concern is the law as it applies to your company. Rightly or wrongly, people often file a complaint when terminated so you will need a labor law expert to keep you out of trouble!!
As a former HR executive I can’t emphasize enough how you need to talk to an attorney that specializes in employment law. Workers Compensation and Reasonable Accommodation are issues that you need to educate yourself on. Do. this. Immediately.
There is a procedure to follow in establishing a disability and seeking reasonable accommodations. I encourage you to follow it. ASAP.
Years ago, I worked in a practice that had a steady supply of patients on Workers' Comp. It was not unusual to find out they were involved in other lawsuits as well. For whatever reason, some people see their financial salvation in suing others.
Not saying this is the situation with your employee, but it sure could be.
Under no circumstances should he be scheduled or expected to do work that involves any lifting. If there are tasks that he is capable of doing, schedule him for those tasks. Otherwise, you could be opening yourself to a Worker's Comp case if not a lawsuit.
its your job to make money, if he cant remain 100% billable and you dont or cant invent a job for him to be billable. Then he must retire, even if its on a medical
the purpose of a company is to make a profit
But not at any cost and without any limit - this isn't the Gilded Age. OP needs to consult a lawyer.
We have 3 handymen, who are supposed to be able to do everything (fix, build, paint, haul, clean, etc). As jobs come in, I assign them to whoever is available. For this employee, he only wants to or can do certain tasks. This means often he's standing around while others are sweating it out. Recently we renovated a laundry room and had to move 20 big machines out; that staff just stood by.
If I let this continue, I fear I cannot command others to work.
You need to help him get on some kind of disability (which means you should help him with any paperwork and approve it, etc. maybe suggest to him what he might be eligible for). If he goes on SS disability he can still earn another approximately $1,000 a month doing something he can handle.
Also, I agree with above post. You need to understand the law under the ADA. Is there a way you can give him more of the work that he can do? Take that work away from the other handymen and divvy up the work so he can still get you a full day's work?
I have been disabled for years (run over by a truck as a pedestrian -- knee crushed and I have just never been able to walk very well since). I have a desk job and still I struggle to get accommodations. Why? Because male managers have this idea in their mind of themselves as an employee back when they were 25 and that's the image they keep that every employee should be able to provide peak performance (that they remember themselves at their peak).
Secondly, they have these stubborn concepts of a job description (in my case they ignore the fact that there are no physical requirements for the job -- this is so that it saves them from disability retirements). In reality the job has to travel and work in a myriad of locations and circumstances with offices everywhere in the US including busy downtown areas, country locations, just everything under the sun.
Thirdly, the disabled employee is left bumping up against a male hierarchy, attempting to put a patchwork together so they can continue to work (because it's too expensive for most people to be disabled). So, the employee is begging all the time for informal accommodations because the formal ones were not approved. Same employee knows that a lawsuit would be an uphill battle they don't have the energy to fight.
But, the employer wants to play the victim as they are so abused by the disabled person. Of course, this is completely illegal.
As a former HR manager, some of these posts make me laugh. OP needs someone in Labor Law and also documentation from the employee from his doctor and not just, "this employee can't lift 5lbs". Why ? Length of disability? Prognosis ?
And, I always hate it when I spend this much time reading a repititious thread and it seems the OP never responds again.
Pooh.
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