I have an employee that keeps leaving/calling out because of sickle cell how can if shes being honest about it

Answer 1

You can't tell. There is no way to measure or quantify objectively pain in a sickle cell crisis.

In general, sicklers are frail looking. They are skinny. I have seen multiple cases where patients come into ER for a sickle crisis but when you do the sickle screen and later the hemoglobin electrophoresis they don't have it. They are simply lying to get narcotics and are jumping from one ER to the next ER. Many of the true sicklers are on diability because of the disease and because they are on alot of narcotics to control their pain.

Answer 2

As the employer you would be well within your legal rights to request that she give you some doctor's proof about it, concerning the degree of disability as well as records of the visits. When you receive these records, contact the doctor's office to verify its validity.

Depending on how much physical activity a "sickler" is involved in, there may be no symptoms on a normal basis. The blood cells are normally in a slightly strange shape, but when there is physical exercise the body begins to produce the distinctive sickle-cell shaped cells. These cells do not have the flexibility and durability of the normal cells, and they will break/die easily causing anemia. Therefore it is possible for the illness to come on suddenly depending on the situation.

When your employee returns (if she's out) or tomorrow at work, ask her for some of the medical records about her illness. If she was honest during her interview, there should be a record of any chronic illness in her files -- if it was not included it should have been!

Answer 3

Ask the employee to provide an excuse from the office visit. You must look at your productivity...can you afford to keep this person with this disease? Sickle cell patients often have flair-ups in the summertime due to dehydration and increased outdoor activity. Maybe you could offer some light duty work for this person. Put a water cooler in the area so that he/she can stay hydrated. This is often the key with sickle cell patients.

Answer 4

Your company will have a policy towards sick days. Check it out in the employee handbook or with HR. Usually companies allow up to X days of sick leave a year without a doctor's note, and if you are sick more than X days, you need to provide a doctor's note. If it's a serious disease that affects your work ability (makes you tired, unable to do certain tasks, etc.) you can ask the doctor to elaborate on that, and see how the employee can function within the limitations of the disease.

Answer 5

we monitor attendance very closely where i work because the workers are unionized and everything has to be documented. we require doctor's excuses when employees miss work and if they don't bring excuses their absences begin to accumulate. also, if this is such a problem maybe they need to ask for medical leave of absence, where their job is saved until they get back but in the meantime the employer doesn't suffer due to lack of productivity by getting a temp to fill in.

Answer 6

Have her bring you a signed doctor's note with the specifics (what type of medication she needs, what to do in case of an emergency, etc... because if she really has this disease, I'd think you would need to know what to do in case of an emergency). If she can't produce the note, or if there is any doubt as to the validity of the note, either fire her or contact her doctor yourself.

Answer 7

sickle cell anemia? that is a serious disease, she is tired because her blood cells are all bent out of shape, literally. you should be supportive it she is honest about it. i dont believe there is a cure for that disease so.... just try to be understanding as this is really hard on her.

Answer 8

Where I work, we had a person who was always calling off for illness to the point it became a big problem. His manager finally told him he had two weeks to gather documentation for all his doctors visits. He was not able to produce documentation for even one appointment, so he was fired.

Answer 9

Hopefully someone wouldn't like about having a disease this serious. However, I believe you are within legal rights if you ask for a doctor's note next time she calls in sick.

Answer 10

Ill go with the others...get a legitimate doctors note...I think you should ask for one anyway since she is taking so much time off for "medical" reasons