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Pandora's
Box and Flubbed It
by Dr. Lynne
Curry
Question:
Can you fire someone who's out on sick leave? One of our key employees
caught mono and left on medical leave four weeks ago. I wished him
well, said him we'd hold down the fort and told him I understood
when he called in and asked for extra Family and Medical Leave Act
(FMLA) time off to take care of his kids who also got sick. However,
when another employee temporarily took over this man' s desk, I
learned more than I wanted to about what a flake this guy was.
He was supposed to deposit checks. He deposited some and stored
others in his desk drawer, along with never filled out and thus
not mailed in compliance reports to several of our funding agencies.
In trying to figure out how to handle a particularly messy financial
situation he'd mangled, I read through his email log and learned
how insulting he is to anyone who gets on his bad side.
I
feel like I've opened Pandora's box and the lid won't shut. I know
counseling is normally a first step but what if you find out that
someone has mis-performed for months and cost you thousands of dollars?
We simply don't want him here any longer. I know it's Christmas
time but can we just fire him?
Answer:
You run a risk when you fire any long-term employee just before
Christmas. If your employee sues and the case moves forward, many
jurors will consider you a Grinch, particularly given your employee's
medical problems.
You
can, however, fire an employee on medical leave. In a recent case,
Local 881 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union fired
a business agent for not properly processing union members' grievances.
When the agent, out on medical leave for depression, sued under
both the FMLA and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), he
lost.
According to the 7th Circuit Court ruling, the FMLA doesn't give
employees rights they don't already have. Thus, an employee out
on medical leave doesn't gain temporary immunity from being fired
if his poor work performance justifies the termination.
Question:
I worked non-stop for two weeks on a fifty-minute presentation I
gave to our five department heads this morning. After I finished,
two of the five managers said I'd done a great job. Two others seemed
more noncommittal, making comments like "good work" and
one said, "I have no comments" in a tone of voice that
made me feel as if I'd embarrassed myself in public.
I
just can't get her tone of voice out of my head. Should I go ask
her what she didn't like about my presentation? Should I ask one
of the others? This was a crucial presentation and it looks like
I totally flubbed it.
Answer:
Before you ask anyone any questions, step back from the situation.
Because you put so much effort into your presentation, you now risk
letting this manager's reaction send you into an overdrive reaction.
You can't take a manager's closing comments after a presentation
at face value. Polite managers say "good job" when they
either like a presentation or realize how hard the employee worked
and want to thank the employee for the effort. The manager who said
"no comment" might have had no interest in your topic,
may have not liked what you said or may be fighting a political
battle with another manager with your presentation as the temporary
battlefield.
Next,
you didn't necessarily "flub" anything. Few presentations
make it past five managers unscathed. In fact, if you learn to consider
criticism as useful information to improve your subsequent presentations,
you gain enormous value and save yourself heartache.
All
this said, ask the two managers who said you did a great job what
they liked and if they can let you know if there was any useful
information discussed afterwards that you can use to improve your
presentation. Then, ask the next two managers for their comments.
Finally, armed with this knowledge visit the manager who said she
had "no comment." Tell her you appreciate what "no
comment" means, but that if she has useful criticism, you'd
welcome it. Stay open to the value of what she tells you, but if
she's rude, realize her comments say more about herself than about
your work.
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