we hired this guy a year ago at our transmission shop. He was pretty bad about missing work/coming in late, etc until he got on our company health insurance (6 month waiting period) and then he just went crazy. I've checked and at no point in the last 6 months have I written him a full paycheck b/c he is constantly coming up with something that he has to go get painkillers for. We have major reason to believe he is a pill popper and he has asked other employees if they know where he can get drugs. He also never goes to the same doctor. He has missed work CONSTANTLY, but always brought dr notes.
He came in about 2 weeks ago with his arm in a sling thinkin he could actually work and draw a paycheck. Since this is a safety hazard to both him and our other employees, my owner sent him home and told him to come back when he had a dr's release on it, & not before.
Now he has applied for Mississippi unemployement saying leave of absence. yes, we made him take it. Is their anything
2007-12-21 03:51:12 · 6 answers · asked by ASH 6 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment ➔ Law & Legal
we can do to prevent him from gettin it considering these circumstances? We are a small company who is very good to the employess who are good honest workers and don't want to see our rates go up due to this bum.
Should we just go ahead and let him go and save ourselves at least paying for his uniforms/health insurance? I'm sure all his claims are gonna make our health insurance rates skyrocket at renewal time, at least maybe if we fired him we could save that even if we do have to give him his unemployment! whats legal here? What's the best way to handle this? Thanks!
2007-12-21 03:54:33 · update #1
For an injury he would have to apply for workman's compensation, not unemployment.
Refuse the claim and unemployment will follow up with you. Go to your state's department of labor website for more information on unemployment compensation, and what you need to do next.
Why did you not fire the guy? If someone is fired for cause they can not draw unemployment.
2007-12-22 09:33:36 · answer #1 · answered by Piggiepants 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When a person applies for Unemployment the state will request confirmation from you. At that time you can tell them why you let them go. If an employee was basically determined to want to get fired(such as always showing up late), they could deny the claim.
Your issue is that you did not fire him. You put him on a leave of absence for an injury. So there is probably nothing you can do to keep him from drawing unemployment. As to if you can fire him now, this is something you really need to check with your lawyer on. If MS is an "At-Will" state there should be no problem, but you want to make sure he can't come back at you for wrongfull termination.
2007-12-21 12:12:14 · answer #2 · answered by OC1999 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am an Illinois attorney who deals with unemployment all the time. The employee who files for unemployment must be able to work and be sending out applications/calls to companies for work. If this person is unable to work because of the arm issue, then he should not get unemployment benefits.
Second issue is that you did not terminate him. He is on an unpaid (?) leave of absence, so technically he is not out of work.
It is up to you the employer to work with the unemployment benefits office and bring these issues up. You should tell the unemployment investigator that this person is out ill and is not terminated. You may later need to say the same thing in front of an administrative law judge.
Now, you really need to get your company on track in dealing with employees. Your company should have policies for issues such as drugs, tardiness, absenteeism. It is up to the employer to make the rules and only with rules can you save the company money when dealing with poor employees.
You should have a policy that states that the employer can have random drug tests, and that a failure to pass such a test CAN result in immediate termination. Then, depending on the employee you can offer a second chance or fire the person on the spot. As the employer you are making yourself liable for any accident that may happen due to this guy being high. You are also setting a poor example by allowing him to ask others about drugs. Those employees who do not want to work with a druggie will find another job.
You also need a policy that allows an employee a certain number of lates, and a certain number of absences. Once over that limit the employee can be terminated immediately. As an employer you MUST lay down the law or you take a chance that the other employees will become as sloppy in showing up to work.
Before you allow this guy to go off the leave of absence you MUST require that he get a note from his doctor stating what he had and that he is medically ready to return to work, and PASS a drug test.
Try to find a local Miss. attorney who can help you draw up a policy manual and assist you in litigation such as this unemployment issue.
2007-12-21 17:35:41 · answer #3 · answered by CatLaw 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
You can't really stop it. If the employee files for unemployment, it is really up to the case worker to determine whether it is granted or not. Just make sure that you have paperwork to back you up on everything you are talking about; even if it is just supervisor notes, but follow the guidelines and make sure that everything is noted. Don't you have some kind of rules of conduct that address the call-offs and/or attendence procedures?
2007-12-21 12:34:20 · answer #4 · answered by T 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You probably can't stop the claim. Hopefully, you are documenting all the tardiness and absenteeism with an eye toward terminating him.
2007-12-21 11:55:28 · answer #5 · answered by npk 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Contact his doctor to verify the injury and maybe past injuries as well. I don't think he can collect if he has been terminated for just cause.
2007-12-21 12:01:09 · answer #6 · answered by countryguyhfc 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋