Time
and time again I have heard the same comments from a
great amount of people. Employers believe that
Asthma is just like the cold and not only it will not
last too long, but it can be taken care of with cold
medicine. Sometimes, the employer has gone as far
as make the statement that the person is faking it to
get out of work. Listen to me and listen to me
very carefully; no one can fake asthma.
However, if you think that you can, read the section on
faking asthma.
I
also know of some employers who have put the employee on
verbal notice. Which is the first step to have
sufficient grounds for termination. And I have
also heard that a big number of employees are in danger
to lose their jobs because of their asthma and the pain
and suffering they go through with some of the treating
drugs.
It
is very sad to see that employers, especially their
Human Affairs department, have not taken the time to
educate themselves and their staff as to what asthma and
other diseases really are. These people do not
have even an inkling as to how deadly Asthma is.
Imagine
this scenario. You have an employee that suffers
from asthma and because you don't know anything
about it, you place the employee on an environment that
will be detrimental to his/her health. As a
result, the employee gets an asthma attack and even
though the first one is severe, it is not as severe as
it is going to get in a little while. The employee
goes to the doctor and the doctor gives him/her steroids
to control the asthma. Steroids are not that good
for the body. The employee goes back to work and
continues to be on the harmful environment and nothing
is done to improve his/her working conditions and on the
next asthma attack the employee needs to be
hospitalized. Depending how bad the attack is the
employee may have to be entubated (a tube us inserted on
the air passage that goes to the lungs and a machine
breathes for the person) After about a week in the
hospital, the employee goes back to work. Not too
long after that, the employee has a more serious asthma
attack and dies of suffocation.
You
don't believe that could happen? Think again. An
asthmatic is always running the risk of
suffocating every time he/she has an asthma
attack. Now, as the employer, you are liable for
the detriment of your employee and if the employee dies,
the employer can be held responsible for the
death. Moreover, there is a law that says that if
the employee has a condition that need especial care and
medical attention, the employer has to go out if
its way to make sure the person has everything that
he/she needs to be healthy and able to work. If
they know of the existing condition and do not provide
for a safe environment , all the tools the person needs
to operate, and they fired the person, the employer is
in serious trouble as it can be sued. The sue can
be for more than pennies, we are talking a big amount of
money. This information should already be on your
Human Resources Department. If for any reason the
Human Resources Department doesn't have it or does not
pay attention to it, the Manager of the department
should be fired and replaced with some one that
remembers that law exists. For complete
information as to what protects an employee with a
disability, such as asthma, please go to ADA.htm
or press the Next button at the bottom of the page, and read the Americans with
Disabilities Act. I
recommend this Federal Law to be read in its entirety
for a better understanding of everyone's rights.
It
is of the utmost importance that asthma is understood,
not only for the benefit of the employee that is an asthmatic
but for everybody that suffers from asthma.
I
will repeat this again: Asthma is a disease
that kills people. Educate yourself and learn how
to handle it even though you may not personally suffer
from it.
