Developing a Medical Separation Policy: What Fair Compensation Should Be Offered?

Dear Sir,

I have been asked by the management to develop a Medical Separation policy. Please guide me on what kind of logical compensation can be given to the outgoing employee. It is other than an injury on duty or injury at work.

Sir,

It is like an employee is unable to perform his duties due to sickness. He/She shall apply for early retirement on medical grounds approved by a medical officer.

So, what best a company shall provide to the employee as monetary support & benefit (medical, housing, etc.) so that it will be a win-win deal for both.

Or the employee, backed by the union, will come to the office but not perform at his optimum and shall take all the benefits until his retirement.

What you've asked is a very important question in the context of the union's support for a non-performer. It is also not clear whether it is an isolated case of an individual workman or involves many such workmen. Have you considered the option of an alternative job that fits his present health condition? If the workman is examined by an independent Medical Board and declared to be physically unfit to do any job, his services can be terminated on the grounds of medical invalidation. Negotiate with the workman and the union and convince both for an amicable settlement. It is better to take into account the relative costs of retaining him versus his amicable voluntary exit on medical grounds.

Sir,

The employee is not performing well due to sickness. Management assumes that if we provide such benefits to a single worker, then many more are likely to apply for the same in the future. The employee's condition is severe, and I don't think he can perform any other job. Furthermore, he is in the unskilled category and is 56 years old.

Thank you, Sir.

Your management's apprehension is correct. The natural process of aging cannot be stopped, nor can the problems associated with it be effectively tackled by all. Since unskilled jobs involve mostly repetitive physical labor, a person of 56 years of age may not be as productive or efficient as they were before. Without essential further information like the nature of the manufacturing or work in which such people are engaged, the age of superannuation fixed, the total number of unskilled workforce, the average age of the workmen, the nature of the individual's sickness, and the impact of their work on it, I think no one can give a suggestion that would protect the interests of both.