Long term disability is a very tricky situation when considering the performance of such employees. The issue is that performance would have to be handled in the case of legalities or the organizational requirements. Balancing the medical situations of the employee and the fair and equal treatment in the workplace is a responsibility of every employer. In this case it will normally need additional considerations, planning and awareness of the legal obligations which automatically are engaged when taking long term disability leave.
The employers should not make assumptions about the ability or health of an employee when they are absent at work. Long term disability cannot be used as a base to judge the performance of a person or make such decisions that might be perceived to be discriminative. Whenever the performance issues are involved, this should be done with documentation, openness, and realization of the rights the employee has under provincial and federal employment practices.
Legal And Human Rights Considerations
The employers are bound by law to accommodate disabled employees to the limit of undue hardship. This implies that an employer cannot during or after a disability period address an issue with an employee even though the employee had some problem in performance before the leave. Human rights law covers an employee against unfair treatment because of a disability and improper performance management during this period puts the employer at a legal risk.
It will be a good idea to talk to a long term disability lawyer Toronto businesses can rely on, to have an idea of what the legal lines are. Any action like warning, dismissing an employee, or making major changes in the area of work by the employer during the time that the employee is on leave is not advisable without professional legal advice. A qualified LTD Lawyer will guide on how best this can be done without doing anything illegal that will affect the position of the employer.
Maintaining Communication With Care
The communication as part of a long term disability leave has to be non-intrusive, respectful, and should concern practical issues like the progression of the medical issue or even the planning of the re-entry to work. Although being checked-in every once in a while is understandable, and there may be something new to announce, such communication is not to be presented in any way with a spirit of pressure or performance assessment. An aim must be achieved to maintain a line without pressure by the employee.
Employers are supposed to record all the messages and make sure that the messages sent are technical and impartial. Such a record can guard both sides of the employer and the employee; the thing is that the pattern of a proper interaction will be demonstrated. No question of performance should be entertained unless of course the worker is back at the job and can hold such chats.
Evaluating Previous Performance Fairly
When the long term disability leave is taken, it is absolutely vital to address such issues with decisiveness and facts in case there was some divine performance issue before the leave. Employers are expected to have a record of a performance review, feedback or other human resource discussions that took place prior to leave. These records need to indicate that whatever actions that occurred were never founded on the disability but that it was a consistent performance management strategy.
One should not raise any new criticisms or use different assessments when an employee is not around. They should put off any review or performance plan until the time that the employee can attend unless it is not foreseen to resume the work and it would consider terminating the employee based on the non-medical reasons. In this situation, a long term disability lawyer Toronto employers trust can provide advice on how they can go about so as not to breach employment standards.
Planning For The Return To Work
A return-to-work plan is important and supportive when an employee is willing to come off the long term disability leave. This could be in the form of altered responsibilities, re-integration over time, or hours, as medically suggested. The employer must liaise with the worker and his or her health experts to make the process easy and suitable to the condition of the worker.
At this level, there can be a commencement of the re-establishment of the expectations of performance as long as this is within reasonable limitation of the ability of the employee. Employers ought to keep in mind that recovery occurs beyond a formal date back to work and it might still require allowances. Writing down these accommodations and expectations will assist in controlling any performance negotiations that may come at a later time.
Handling Potential Disputes
The employers should be very cautious when performance is the problem following the cessation of leave on disability. One should not be quick to think that the employee is healed and there would be no more accommodations needed. Performance management ought to take into account the environment of the disability and any permanent effects this may have on the job operations.
Hiring a skilled LTD Lawyer can assist employers to construct discussions and plans that are reasonable, lawful and well-documented. In the event that disagreements do occur, legal advice can prove crucial in preventing accusations of discrimination or retaliation. This assistance is particularly beneficial where there is concern to adequately perform operations without compromising the employee considering that he/she is in a privileged position.
Creating A Workplace Culture Of Support
The management of performance during or after a long term disability leave ought to capture a culture in the workplace that appreciates support, understanding and adherence to the law. Employers who spend time not only managing these situations in a conciliatory and professional manner but also establish confidence with their workforce. This confidence can be in the form of morale increase, turnover decrease, and a better reputation of an organization.
In the end, the secret is to stop thinking about performance management as an instrument of punishment and take it as a reciprocal responsibility activity. Various long term disability scenarios can be handled in a manner that leads to a win-win situation on the part of the individual employee and the team at large, with the help of the right attitude and legal counsel in case of necessity.
