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When personal issues affect
employee performance:
Answer to an Employee Relations case study
What did
this supervisor do right?
 | Scheduling a private meeting
with the employee to discuss her work performance issues was a
positive step. |
| The supervisor provided the employee with
contact information for the Employee Assistance Program, stressing that
EAP is a free, confidential service available to employees and their
families to deal with issues, problems, or concerns. This gave the
employee an avenue to seek help and begin the road to recovery. |
| The supervisor
recognized that this
employee might need time off to begin dealing with these issues. Often, employees feel they must deal with home and work
issues in tandem. |
What could
this supervisor have done better?
| Discussing
performance issues, absenteeism, or tardiness with an employee when you
first begin to observe the problem can help resolve it at the lowest level
possible. When problems are ignored, they can
escalate and are almost always harder to handle. |
| This supervisor allowed himself to be swayed from the
purpose of the meeting, which was to discuss work-related issues. Information was provided to
the employee on help available for issues outside of the office, but the
conversation should have stayed focused on the work performance and the
expectations being laid out. Upon the employee's return from leave, this
conversation will have to start all over again. |
| Employee Relations should be
contacted to discuss this case. Vacation time might have been
appropriate, but Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) information should
also have been provided. Depending on proper medical documentation,
provided by the employee's health care provider, she might have qualified for a
medical/sick leave of absence. If an employee discusses the
possibility of a
serious health condition, such as depression or alcoholism, or treatment for such,
and needs time off to address these problems, FMLA leave information
should be provided. |
| If the employee needs additional time off beyond the job-protected 12 weeks of
leave, then
Employee Relations
would have to consider whether the employee’s condition rises to the level
of a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
If Employee Relations determines that the employee is protected under the ADA, then
additional leave could be a reasonable accommodation.
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- Connie
Reckowsky
Employee Relations
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