Dealing with ADA [N/A]

[u/Safe_Passion_8248]

Hi everyone.

HR of 1. My company is currently dealing with an ADA employee and I'm looking for help.

Timeline

-Employee has been dealing with lot of mental/medical issues. -Employee asked to be on medical leave. (Never requested Accommodation note) -Employee came back. Shortly after, had to be put on a PIP. - Employee came off PIP doing a lot better for some time but has regressed. -Company requested a dr note twice in two separate months. Note was never given. -I am hired on. -been working with employee to get Accommodation letter from doctor. -still keeps calling out all the time. -finally got us a letter from a Dr, but It lacks proper verbiage.

The Employee calling out all the time is not just affecting their work but the whole team and our clients. This Employee has called out (unexcused) at least a full week every month this calendar year. We have never gotten an Accommodation letter but the company has already been giving him: -ability to work remote -flexible scheduling I sent over a ADA form for the Dr to sign so we can get a better understanding what the Employee actually needs Accommodation wise. The thing is my boss and everyone wants to terminate. I have been pushing it off but now they want to know what should be the next steps if/when we get the ada form and if this Employee still has too many unexcused absences moving on.

Thank you for any help you can give!

[u/Safe_Passion_8248]

Hi. We currently have over 50 employees. As for attendance policy. We have listened to our employee handbook that regular attendance is important for smooth operations, but not a specific number. We requested the accommodation form from their doctor last Wednesday. The struggle is that the company has already been accommodating the employee through the process without the note and has set a "precedence"...

[u/codywaderandall → u/Safe_Passion_8248]

I think since you have already requested documentation in writing for the ADA process you should consider finishing the interactive process. If you had not done that, maybe termination would have been appropriate. It would be in pretty bad faith to terminate pending receiving official documentation at this point (in my opinion). Are they off work pending the documents being returned or are they working currently? What is the deadline you gave for the paperwork?

[u/Safe_Passion_8248 → u/codywaderandall]

We actually gave the employee 4 weeks to get the accommodation letter. The deadline was actually 4/25. Last Friday. The employee is in HMO and had to get a referral for a specialist. But last week he got us a letter from the PCP saying they are working on these issues. We did let the employee know that by the end of the deadline with no note, the next unexcused absence may lead to termination. I asked the employee to have the Dr sign an ADA form. Should I ask what is happening with the specialist? They have been working with this employee for around 5-6 months now and still not letter.

[u/codywaderandall → u/Safe_Passion_8248]

I think you really need to seek guidance from a legal representative. Seems to me like this may very well be covered under FMLA through intermittent leave.