Legal Question in Business Law in Virginia

Re: Illness while on travel

In the absence of a contract between the parties,

employment may generally be terminated at will.

If you father is disabled and can be accommodated

so that he can return to work, and if he is fired

for his disability, then he may have a claim

against the employer for discrimination. Most

employers have disability insurance for their

employees. He should be evaluated by a doctor

and very likely a disability claim should be filed.

You should also consider getting a prognosis and

arranging for a return date to work. If your

father will need some help getting back on the

job, this should be provided by the employer

as a reasonable accommodation to a disability.

If it appears as if the employer is considering

firing your father, you may want to suggest that

your father be laid off until he can return to

work. Hopefully, disability insurance will cover

this period. If the illness is work-related, you

can file a claim under workers compensation.

I do not know the practices of workers comp in

your particular area, but some workers comp

panels will make an award for stress-related

illness related to job stress.

Re: Illness while on travel

Absent a contractual provision, and provided the illness was not caused by his work (so that he would be covered by workers compensation), the employer is not required at all to keep him on the payroll (past the expiration of earned vacation and sick leave days) unless he is able to work (although if he requires a reasonable accommodation of a disability to work, they may have to provide it). There may be disability insurance that will kick in if he can't work. He may be entitled to unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, but would be entitled to have his job back upon his recovery.