Answers to 3 questions about the common employment law
Sometimes labor law can be difficult to understand. Here are three common workplace situations and their legal ramifications..
1: DISMISSAL FOR ILLNESS
There are three potential areas of legal exposure:
Unjustified dismissal;
Illegal termination; Y
Discrimination
From time to time, an employee will have to leave their employment due to long-term health problems. They may decide to quit or you may eventually have to consider firing them. It is beneficial to consider all possible ways to help them get back to work; dismissal should be a last resort and could be considered unfair if not handled properly.
If it is no longer possible to continue employment because reasonable accommodations cannot be made, it may be fair for you to fire them.
The Fair Labor Act of 2009 states that an employer must not fire an employee because the employee is temporarily absent from work due to illness or injury.
The Fair Work Regulation 2009 states that it is not a “temporary absence” if the employee’s absence extends for more than 3 months, or the employee’s total absences, within a 12-month period, have been more than 3 months. The employer still requires a valid reason to fire the employee, even if the employee has been absent on unpaid leave for three months or more.
We suggest that you ask the employee to provide medical information about their ability to work and what support they might need to return to work.
2: EVIDENCE OF DISEASE
You can insist that employees provide proof to a reasonable person that they are entitled to sick leave, for example, a medical certificate or legal statement. That being said, there is no specific deadline, as the required deadline is “as soon as possible”.
For this reason, you should create a written policy that requires your employees to provide such information within a specified period of time. Your policy should also specify that your employees inform their manager directly of their absence (when possible), or call their manager within a specified period of time to explain why they cannot go to work and when they expect to return.
3: NOTICE OF REDUNDANCY
When firing an employee it is necessary to notify him. The notice begins when the employer tells the employee that they want to end the job. If you notify them of your dismissal just prior to leave, the time spent on annual leave will count toward your notice period.