What can I do about a depressed employee?

Dear Aunty B,

I am in a difficult position with a depressed employee who started with us six months ago.

She is in a management position and has five people reporting to her, but she has been very badly impacted by the death of her father a year ago and has been very depressed ever since she arrived.

You can see this is not her normal personality and she got great referrals and did a fantastic interview so we didn’t know it was a problem until a few months into her employment with us.

She seems to be working hard on getting better but she has taken quite a bit of time off. I have had a number of meetings with her where she has reported on the treatment she is getting and she keeps insisting she is getting better.

We all feel for her and have persisted with her because if she could get better and resume responsibilities that would be the best outcome. But at the moment two people in her management team are “carrying” her and they have started to really complain about having to do her job plus their own for a lot less money. I can’t afford to give them a big pay rise as this year has been very tough and I am worried they might leave unless I can solve this.

I am also worried about the legal side if I am forced to move her on, although I do feel it was unfair of her not to tell us about her condition because it is obviously debilitating.

Di,
Vic

Dear Di from Vic,

Staff who have a medical condition always present an employer with a very tricky dilemma.

Of course you want to support your staff member and do everything you can to provide them with a place of work where they can contribute and feel good about themselves. On the other hand, you have responsibilities to your other staff and shareholders to run the business in their interests as well.

VECCI wrote about a case that had some parallels to this yesterday so check this out here.

But in a nutshell it can be tricky to move people on who have an existing medical condition even though it predates employment with your company. VECCI recommends instituting a suitable performance review, obtaining relevant medical advice and giving the employee a chance to respond, all of which may mitigate some risk. But be aware the employee can take action, although of course it might not be successful. So do check this out with your lawyer.

Is there another way to approach this? Can you talk to her about moving to part-time work so that she can focus more on her treatment? Can you move one of those staff to her position with the savings from her moving to part-time work?

This must be very hard for both you and her as you obviously want to do the right thing by everyone which is always tricky!

Be smart,
Your Aunty B

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