my employee is in obvious pain, but won’t get medical treatment

[ResidentialBusiness]

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

One of my employees, “Pam,” has been having pains that I won’t specify for the sake of anonymity. Her condition is degenerative but can be managed quite successfully through physical therapy and occasional steroid injections. I happily made several doctor-recommended accommodations and alterations to Pam’s workspace, at the expense of the company, to make the eight hours a day she spends here more manageable.

Pam went to several weeks of physical therapy sessions, but then stopped going because it turns out physical therapy “isn’t really enjoyable for me” (is it for anyone?). She also stopped the steroid injections, because she hated waiting so long each time she had to go in. She had shown marked improvement and relief while she was being treated, and our insurance plan covered the treatment fully. All this is info that she openly volunteered to me.

Now, for the past three months since she stopped treatment, everyone in our office has been subjected to near-constant moans and groans of pain. The worst is in the morning when Pam shuffles in and groans with every step. Several of her coworkers have come to me saying that the constant groaning is taking a toll on people’s sanity.

I do not know how to handle such a sensitive issue. Pam’s decision to not take care of her very treatable medical needs is subjecting the entire company to misery and lots of eye-rolling.

I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

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