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My brother has a medical condition and 2 letters from his physician informing his employer that remote work is highly recommended until such a time that the global pandemic has fully ended. However, his employer is requiring he return to the office, full time, with no remote privileges, effective on June 30. He has never worked in the office for this company in the first place and has always been remote.
I have been to his workplace, recently, and there are not even safeguards in place.
Other than a generally crappy thing to do, is his employer "able" to disregard a doc's advisement like this? He will likely end up quitting and finding something else but wanted to know - Thanks
Should be a field day for lawyers coming up, to litigate such as the OP. Better to ask if case law and HHS.gov have caught up with all the happenings the past year. Government is usually far slower than all that. My first reaction was "get vaccinated" but that's a controversial and blanket statement, I realize rationally.
One would think if a workplace makes such demands of employees, they feel they are legally protected and within reasonable rights to demand workers be onsite. Usually bigger the company, the better their HR and lawyers are at puzzling this out. Mildly curious if they ask same of us in June; I've been mostly remote since 2017 and love it.
His workplace, where he is an office worker and no way benefits from being in the office, has him in a role that is in now way "essential" in that he serves the public, front-line, etc. He sits at a PC all day and could work anywhere.
I think as a legal issue, it will depend where he lives. Certainly here in Ohio, he could be fired for this - or for no reason at all - as that's just The Way It Is.
But - the "global pandemic" is unlikely to be over any time soon, if ever, in that sense that there is ZERO risk. Right now your risk is pretty small, and it gets smaller every day. What would a comfortable number be?
I think the point is this; he has a serious medical condition with a doctor's note that, specifically, says remote work highly recommended. I believe the company is, simply, disregarding the note entirely and saying...Oh well, be here.
I think the point is this; he has a serious medical condition with a doctor's note that, specifically, says remote work highly recommended. I believe the company is, simply, disregarding the note entirely and saying...Oh well, be here.
Americans with disabilities act?
All I have. Can he take protected leave time where he doesn't get paid... FSLA?
I was just wondering - He has no problem just finding something else and moving on but when he told me I was kinda taken aback from the company's total lack of empathy - especially since he has never, ever worked in the office since he was hired. In fact, when he was hired, he was told it was a remote role. So the sudden flip in policy and their lack of giving a Mod cut. will force excellent employees like him out anyway.
thanks all!
Last edited by PJSaturn; 06-01-2021 at 08:00 PM..
Reason: Inappropriate language.
My brother has a medical condition and 2 letters from his physician informing his employer that remote work is highly recommended until such a time that the global pandemic has fully ended. However, his employer is requiring he return to the office, full time, with no remote privileges, effective on June 30. He has never worked in the office for this company in the first place and has always been remote.
I have been to his workplace, recently, and there are not even safeguards in place.
Other than a generally crappy thing to do, is his employer "able" to disregard a doc's advisement like this? He will likely end up quitting and finding something else but wanted to know - Thanks
It depends on the state but in general an employer is "supposed" to accommodate when reasonably possible. That doesn't mean they all do, however. They could try to hide behind mask "requirements" which are not necessarily enforced with teeth ("Teeth" meaning it is a disciplinary infraction and the employee is threatened with losing their job if they refuse to comply.)
As more and more people get vaccinated, it will become harder and harder to make a case that an employer has to take these measures unless the individual has a compromised immune condition or a medical reason that they cannot be vaccinated.
What defines fully ended? Is there some specific criteria? Maybe we will get there by the end of June or maybe we won't. If he's in a state that people can be fired for any reason, then he probably doesn't have much of a leg to stand on. He should talk to his doctor, though... if he is vaccinated, then would that be enough to protect him (assuming the vaccine is safe for him to get and likely to be effective in his situation)?
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