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I think you should push back on HR and say that you are not sure of the legal requirements in this situation and you need more guidance. Maybe even recommend running it by your legal department if you have one. Basically there are two questions:
1. Should/can you bring up the message the employee sent?
2. If not, what kind of alternatives should you propose and how hard should you push back?
As an attorney for a company, I would highly recommend you forward your emails with HR to legal as well. You should even tell them that since the ADA is a legal statute, you aren’t comfortable or qualified in making a determination and specifically ask for their legal advice. By doing so, the exchange is (generally) protected under privilege (not so with the HR emails) and lawyers have a duty to protect the company so they should provide you advice.
Let HR handle it
You accommodate until HR gives you direction
My company handles ada the same as you. However in this case I would meet with my independent hr rep to have them weigh in and help you if that is not the same person who is handling the ada request
I wouldn’t trust employee B with a 10 foot pole. Yes, the one that sent you the screenshot. My great grandma used to say beware of the dog that brings you the bone.
I’m sure that was a confidential conversation and employee B could’ve been inquiring to employee A about how they were able to get an ADA. Employee A may have a bona fide medical reason and just said some BS like co workers do in chats to each other. I’m questioning Employee B’s motives.
That being said, HR will do an investigation and they’ll make the determination. There’s nothing for you to do to but continue doing what you’re doing. I do hope you received a screenshot of the full conversation and not just that snippet so you had context.
It was the full conversation. I've had some problems with both employees in the past which makes this situation even more complicated and why I think I'm more critical of the situation. As others have recommended, I'm handing it off to HR and legal and letting them deal with it.
Personally, I'd drop it. You can't prove they are faking because they have all the required paperwork. Their advice isn't sufficient evidence to suggest they DON'T have anxiety, at least not based on what they wrote. Unless they said "that's what I did". If you deny them, I'd assume your company could be susceptible to a law suit... If they are meeting all job requirements and deadlines, I would just let it go
Oh yea that definitely changes things. Honestly, then it's not about the accommodation and HR should be speaking to them about professional ethics and dishonesty.
Here is something you may not be considering. Employee A may have a disability that they do not want to disclose (ADHD or ASD) and are trying to get covered for something they think is more acceptable in the workplace. Someone earlier said follow the accommodation based on the doctor's note and go from there. Especially if HR isn't backing you up like they should. There is a website that could help you askjan.org
I would be concerned with both employees. Yes one who is trying to exploit the system but the other has photographed a peer on company property without consent. Why would any organization or you as a manager want two employees you can’t trust? One who is a liar and the other who is more concerned with what others are doing they are taking pictures of their peers in the office?
HR should decide whether or not an accommodation should be considered. Then partner with you to determine what is reasonable. The message could be presented to the employee and you could ask them about it but if a doctor signs off, it’s not really going to get you very far. Root cause is companies making the decision to RTO when it’s been 3 1/2 years. IMO if it’s been working that long, why would leadership change this and put you in the position to even have to deal with it? We implemented an anchor day but otherwise let people decide what’s best and deal
with performance.
Our RTO is minimum 2 days in office for ICs (3 days for managers). We have one anchor day where everyone in the department needs to be in office. Badge swipes will be tracked for in office days and reported out monthly.
I've already told my team that as long as their badge is swiped two days a week, and they get their work done, I don't care what time they come into the office or how long they stay there. I've given as much flexibility as I can tbh. I know enforcing things like this is part of the job, but it's been a struggle lately.
Employee A may in fact have health issues. Employee B is not trustworthy and a snitch - who would want to work with someone like that?
Weird that they would use anxiety to get out of RTO. I actually have bad anxiety but I’m ok in the office (unless my boss is the cause of my massive anxiety like my last job). Usually my anxiety is calmed by noise canceling headphones and meds. And to be honest, I don’t quite understand the RTO. We just gonna be doing zoom/teams calls from our cubes!
Anyhow, I digress. Might need to see if you can get your HR team and legal team together in a meeting to get this ironed out before you get with your employee. Make them deal with this.
My team is all based in the office and I'm really the only one on Zoom calls all day since my stakeholders are in another office. But as much as I disagree about RTO rules, it's really out of my hands.
I have bad anxiety too so I would hate to question anyone on it and I normally wouldn't, but the employee in question has been pretty vocal about not wanting to commute and the language in the screenshot Employee B sent is a clear case of them saying they found a workaround for remote work.
I might just keep pushing HR and if they don't do anything, find a legal person in HR who can help. I just really don't want to get in trouble and I feel that I will either way I handle this.
Weigh out the scenarios and risks here. I read your replies and you say HR puts it on the manager to decide whether or not to accommodate and offer alternatives. That’s very risky for a company to put in the hands of managers. Anyways, I assume HR is putting it on you to also decide how to handle the screenshotted messages?
If you ignore the screenshot then employee A continues to have their remote accommodation which may or may not be legit. Maybe employees C D E & F also follow this advice and get them. That’s the risk.. more employees with ADA accommodations.
If you address the screen shots, especially without guidance from HR, you’re putting yourself and the company at a lot of risk for lawsuits.
If you play the game of “alternatives” you’re also putting yourself and the company at risk.. especially without HR guidance.
The answer seems very obvious to me.. leave it alone. If HR was more involved I’d possibly feel differently.
And lastly, from the comment reply I saw, let go of the “I have ____ too and therefore ___”. You wouldn’t appreciate if someone downplayed your anxiety and struggles because they or their cousins neighbor has it too.
I’m in HR but haven’t done ADA in a long time.. for what it’s worth.
I didn’t mean to say that everyone with anxiety should be work from work. I just meant that everyone’s level is different. My therapist I think wouldn’t give me a letter to work from home now, but she probably would have had it been my last boss. I was often paralyzed with fear around my last boss in the office. I didn’t know if I was going to be berated in front of everyone or if she was going to play “nice” that day. During the pandemic she was off the rails and was so nasty my husband heard her over teams. I had to seek therapy just to deal with her and be put on meds.
Personally RTO is a joke and is all about the real estate costs that corporate is undertaking. Until they start selling off these buildings (which most can’t, look at the market) they are forcing us to go in. Luckily I work remote now and I’m 2 hours away so when they decide to do RTO, I won’t be included, but still, it’s crap. It’s punishment for the workers. I’ll bet when everyone is at the office, those big wigs are chillin on their yacht’s or 4th homes on the islands, working over teams.
Tons of do as I say, not as I do.
But yes, let HR and legal handle this.
If the work is the actual problem, than you can let such people go at some point with a massive paper tail.
Let HR take the lead. Don’t do anything else without their direction.
Subject Expert
If you’re concerned about the ethical issue (as I would be too if I read those screenshots) why not just fire them? If you’re at an at will to work state you don’t have to give any reason.
If they are manipulative and I would expect potentially toxic to the org why not cut ties with them and let them go?