Hello,

I have just taken over a fast food restaurant business and have run into a bit of trouble with an employee.

In the mail one day I received a letter from my insurance company stating that a current employee had a work related injury in the past and just until recently was receiving compensation.

This employee is your typical know it all and very rude. She is rude to my customers, to me and threatens me by saying certain things I am doing is illegal.

After talking to fellow employees I have learned that she is not allowed to work more than 3 hours a day, recommended by her doctor.

I just found out about this and earlier tonight she called in telling me she was in the E.R. about her knee.

I fear that she is already in the midst of concocting another medical leave or something else.

How can I protect myself as I had no prior knowledge about her 3 hour maximum limit?

Is it too late or are there counter-measures I can take?

Her doctors note from today states that she is not allowed to work until 11/29/2007.

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Do you have any verification other than her co-workers' statements that she has a medical three hour limit? Did she, by any chance, ever mention it to you?

No, I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet.

Should I tell her that I need a doctor's note advising how many hours she is allowed to work before coming back to work?

You need to talk to your WC insurer or whoever handles your claims. They will have copies of all the medical status reports from the physician as well as specific limitations for that employee.

You need to sit down with the insurer or someone locally (maybe the occ med clinic who does your random drug tests if you do that) and get a crash course in WC. Not following procedures can be costly.

Probably 90% of WC claims are real but you'd be amazed at the number of people who take a small problem and make a big one.

I had one employee who bruised his toe and despite 3 physicians (including 2 different orthos) looking at it and the xrays, there was no break. He swore up and down that he was in so much pain he couldnt work but the Dr's kept releasing him back to work with modified duty.
It was a mess, he got an attorney but because we followed state procedures at every step, we prevailed. He got mad and quit eventually.
The funny thing (which he didnt know) was that the reason I was limping was becasue I had a broken toe (same toe as he bruised but on the other foot). I know everyone has different pain tolerances but I was walking and he would come in and couldnt come to my office, because it was too far from the elevator..

Find out about WC. It is complex and can bite you. You want to be fair to the employees who are really hurt but be aware that some people do milk WC claims.