serious question.... have you ever had to deal with...

[BIGSHCLUNK]

.. a mental illness issue with a valued employee?  I'm in a situation with my #2 man. I don't even know what I can "legally" say to my other guys in the shop. But not being a spring chicken myself, this is really starting to wear on me. 

[67vertman]

Due to the HIPA laws, be very careful of what you share. If he shares with them that is one thing, but if you divulge information about his heath condition it can come back and bite you.

As for dealing with an employee with mental health issues....I have no experience. Dealing with customers with mental issues.....its an everyday thing. 

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Dealing with customers with mental issues.....its an everyday thing. 

Ohhh Lordy lordy.......... don't I know this one! 

[js29no]

X-2

[wantone]

I'm in Cali- An employee can be fired for no reason at all or any.    Basically - so long as you're not discriminating against any 1 thing you're cool.   A lot of attorneys will find all kinds of gray area.   

My 2 cents - just fire the SOB and blame it on money.

[HP_Cuda]

You would call it a layoff and blame $$$

 

I'm in Cali- An employee can be fired for no reason at all or any.    Basically - so long as you're not discriminating against any 1 thing you're cool.   A lot of attorneys will find all kinds of gray area.   

My 2 cents - just fire the SOB and blame it on money.

[wantone]

Do that by giving yourself a raise.

[CUDA JAS]

I'm in Cali- An employee can be fired for no reason at all or any.    Basically - so long as you're not discriminating against any 1 thing you're cool.   A lot of attorneys will find all kinds of gray area.   

My 2 cents - just fire the SOB and blame it on money.

I really truly hope you are joking...because it certainly does not come off that way.

Jason

[blown motor]

I really truly hope you are joking...because it certainly does not come off that way.

Jason

  Obviously you don't know BIGS. Unless I'm extremely wrong he's not the "fire the SOB" type of guy. Note that he did refer to this person as a "valued employee".

[wantone]

OK - I have to answer this honestly now.   Clearly you're talking about dementia or Alzheimers or something like that.   You have to talk to a workers comp attorney or your in-house counsel about this employee and seek options for their possibly receiving disability.   This will help you broach the issue and "paper-up."    It's a part of life and assuming he's putting your finances in or employees in jeopardy - it's an issue to be dealt with.   If the employee starts to really fly of the handle, you have to write them up and work on terminating them in a way that is performance related so that they can get unemployment benefits.

[dakota]

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.   Just my 2cents here:

I definitely agree with the prior comment about HIPPA laws and medical privacy - the employee can say whatever they want about their issues but, unless they've expressly given you permission to disclose any details, you are best served being silent.

As for the "mental illness", as I understand it, it's important whether you have a true medical diagnosis of a mental issue in hand or if you're making the assumption based on observations of his performance.   If there's an actual medical diagnosis in play (this means more than the employee just telling you he has an issue), then it's possible that the employee has some level of protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), no different than if they had a serious physical illness like cancer.   There are requirements for employers to make "reasonable accommodations" for the disability.  The employer gets to decide what's "reasonable".   If there's no medical diagnosis, I think you can deal with the situation as a performance issue.

One link with an overview of the ADA law:  http://www.womenshealth.gov/mental-health/your-rights/americans-disability-act.html

Good luck with it.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

BIGS,
 

  Another thought here, is he on drugs? Maybe any doctor prescribed medication is messing him up...Or maybe he has gone off the rails with narcotics?

[BIGSHCLUNK]

  Obviously you don't know BIGS. Unless I'm extremely wrong he's not the "fire the SOB" type of guy. Note that he did refer to this person as a "valued employee".

Been with me over 25 years.... not a thief (rare these days). Had a ton of family issues lately that (I'm guessing) put him over the edge.

[AARTA340]

Not sure of the type of work being done, but safety enters into the equation and should be calculated into the big picture with concern for other workers. Better to have a dismissal than dealing with an inured worker(s).

[lulurocks]

You say "valued". Which means  in the 25 years he has been with you  he was a valuable asset.

He has made you money and been loyal .   Loyalty is a 2 way street ...  Sometimes you have to invest in good people ...

We had a guy that ran into some hard times in life ,  my boss took this loyal employee and put him out on disability.  Paid the diffence in his check that he  lost  being on disability . On one stipulation ... He had to get the professional help he needed  ...   That guy has been back and better then ever for 2 years now..

But the biggest problem was convicting him he had a  problem........

My boss is a real class act, not many like him anymore.