Eating disorder
November 7, 2005 9:23 PM Subscribe
I could use some advice regarding an employee who has an eating disorder.
There's plenty of advice for anorexics and their families but not for employers. The girl in question is 21 years old and instructs one small dance class. At the moment, this is the only social activity she has. I’ve rung every available health department and received totally conflicting advice as to whether I will be making things worse by taking the class away from her. A year ago she was healthy looking, now she is absolutely skeletal and the rest of the staff and myself are really concerned for her. She has spoken freely about it to me and agrees there is a problem but every week she is thinner than the week before.
There's plenty of advice for anorexics and their families but not for employers. The girl in question is 21 years old and instructs one small dance class. At the moment, this is the only social activity she has. I’ve rung every available health department and received totally conflicting advice as to whether I will be making things worse by taking the class away from her. A year ago she was healthy looking, now she is absolutely skeletal and the rest of the staff and myself are really concerned for her. She has spoken freely about it to me and agrees there is a problem but every week she is thinner than the week before.
Response by poster: You are right Dreama, it may make matters worse and possibly cause me legal problems. Privacy laws don't allow me to speak to her family either. I don't really want to deal with any of this but she looks like she is dying on her feet.
posted by Tarrama at 9:57 PM on November 7, 2005
posted by Tarrama at 9:57 PM on November 7, 2005
Best answer: Well, she has admitted that she has a problem that is known to cause health issues, so maybe you could insist she get clearance from a doctor to continue teaching.
To protect all of you, you should be sure she's physically capable of performing her duties as a dance instructor. If she had a desk job it might be harder, but in this case I think you ough to be able to argue that a doctor's clearance is reasonable.
posted by stefanie at 10:07 PM on November 7, 2005
To protect all of you, you should be sure she's physically capable of performing her duties as a dance instructor. If she had a desk job it might be harder, but in this case I think you ough to be able to argue that a doctor's clearance is reasonable.
posted by stefanie at 10:07 PM on November 7, 2005
You say she's spoken freely and admits there's a problem. This makes it a bit easier to approach her on the topic. Ask her if there's anything you can do to help the situation. If she's seeking medical assistance for her condition, trust in her to do what's right for herself. If she's not, ask if she'd consider it. She may be uninsured though, and unwilling to spend the extreme amounts of money she'd be facing.
If she's willing to seek medical assistance, encourage this. As her employer, check into what sort of assistance you can offer her. The monetary assistance may be too much to justify, but a bit of schedule flexibility can go a long way. If uninsured, see if you can figure out a way to get her on any insurance program your outfit may have.
If she's unwilling to visit a doctor, you may want to ask a lawyer how to avoid liability. If she won't help herself, you simply can't do anything about it and covering your own tail is all that remains.
It's tough to watch this, especially when you're very limited in what you can do. Really, it's a matter of how far she'll go to help herself. Taking the class away or not is a decision only for your liability.
posted by Saydur at 2:00 AM on November 8, 2005
If she's willing to seek medical assistance, encourage this. As her employer, check into what sort of assistance you can offer her. The monetary assistance may be too much to justify, but a bit of schedule flexibility can go a long way. If uninsured, see if you can figure out a way to get her on any insurance program your outfit may have.
If she's unwilling to visit a doctor, you may want to ask a lawyer how to avoid liability. If she won't help herself, you simply can't do anything about it and covering your own tail is all that remains.
It's tough to watch this, especially when you're very limited in what you can do. Really, it's a matter of how far she'll go to help herself. Taking the class away or not is a decision only for your liability.
posted by Saydur at 2:00 AM on November 8, 2005
There's good advice in this thread, but if you follow up on it and reach the point where you've done all you can and it still hasn't helped, remember that there will always be people you can't help because they are not willing or able to help themselves.
posted by orange swan at 5:40 AM on November 8, 2005
posted by orange swan at 5:40 AM on November 8, 2005
Privacy laws don't allow me to speak to her family either.
Have you spoken to a lawyer about this or are you just assuming? I know less than nothing about Australian law but I do know that most people in the US overestimate the amount of legal protection their job has.
If she's getting that far gone and you can do nothing else you should document any ways in which this condition is hindering her job performance. I don't mean to be insensitive but as orange swan says there will be people who are determined to sink and keeping yourself from being dragged down with her is no sin.
You say you've called health organizations - have you tried support organizations?
posted by phearlez at 6:17 AM on November 8, 2005
Have you spoken to a lawyer about this or are you just assuming? I know less than nothing about Australian law but I do know that most people in the US overestimate the amount of legal protection their job has.
If she's getting that far gone and you can do nothing else you should document any ways in which this condition is hindering her job performance. I don't mean to be insensitive but as orange swan says there will be people who are determined to sink and keeping yourself from being dragged down with her is no sin.
You say you've called health organizations - have you tried support organizations?
posted by phearlez at 6:17 AM on November 8, 2005
Response by poster: Every answer here was useful, thank you so much. I have asked the girl to bring me a certificate from her Doctor and just hope she follows through.
posted by Tarrama at 5:30 PM on November 8, 2005
posted by Tarrama at 5:30 PM on November 8, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Dreama at 9:45 PM on November 7, 2005