Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Can I require emotionally unstable employee to seek help as terms of re-hire?

I have an employee that tendered her resignation last week. I was considering replacing her because of her verbal abusivness, occational insubordination and attitued. She is very vocal and negative. Unfortunatly, she is also a relative. I want to give her another chance but also want to make sure that efforts are made to change the attitude and protect myself and business. She is already on medication for depression but often forgets to take it and ends up sending the other employees into the corners to hide. We are considering a 90 day probation period and 3 warnings if behavior becomes a problem. Can I enforce this? Can I require the employee seek continued professional help as a condition of continued employment? ( we do offer health coverage for this. Also, is there a source for definitions of insubordination etc. for my employee manual?


Asked on 11/15/02, 7:45 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

Re: Can I require emotionally unstable employee to seek help as terms of re-hire

Why would you want to rehire a problem employee, that drives other employees away, that quit? Family ties is no excuse.

Yes, you can condition rehire and employment on reasonable conditions, applied uniformly to all employees, but will only create more problems when you try to demand performance, enforce them or discipline/fire the problem child later.

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Answered on 11/18/02, 7:10 pm


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