Q: can I be fired if I don't accept a job reassignment to another state or country because HR can't find a local job
I was demoted from a management exempt position because I can only work 4 hours a day due to my first workplace injury. When HR put me into the minimum wage job I told them that I was not physically capable of performing it and I became injured at work again with a new set of restrictions. My local HR told me that worker's comp didn't apply because they forced me to file for reasonable accommodations and that the RA process was in place not WC and as such I would have to accept a position in another state or country and I would have to pay for all the relocation expenses myself. If I don't accept the new job and pay to relocate myself and family they will terminate me. They won't put me back in a professional position because I can only work 4 hours a day even though I would otherwise be capable of performing the work. The worker's comp doctors set the restrictions and now HR says the RA committee decision is that I have to move to another location or be fired.
A: Too bad you didn't get a lawyer for this claim. The Labor Code requires that the Employer offer Permanently Modified Employment within 2 weeks of the receipt of the notice of Permanent Work Restrictions...and most miss that deadline. That offer must include 85% of the pre-injury wages. So if 4 hours of minimum wage is less than 85% of the pre-injury earnings, that is NOT a valid offer of modified employment, and this entitles you a Job Displacement Voucher (to give to a school to train for a new career). Then, the Americans With Disabilities Act -- ADA -- is separate federal law impacting the employer...IF you can prove you can accomplish the 'essential job functions' in 4 hours that others do in 8 hours, then they are supposed to let you do this position. If that job requires a face or a voice on duty 8 hours, it's going to be very tough to prove you are able to complete the 'essential job functions'. Sadly, that does permit the employer to terminate employment, and you should be filing for Unemployment Insurance immediately...and find which accredited school you wish to use for your Job Displacement voucher.
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