Employer legalities regarding employee with temporary disability acquired off premise

[cardinal2]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Wisconsin

We are small business owners in Wisconsin with 9 employees. We recently had an employee who injured herself at home, completely non-work related. According to the employee, her doctor said she will need to be off work for 3 months. Are we required to keep her job open? Also, she has 2 weeks of vacation coming to her that she needs to use by the end of the year. Can we force her to use that during the time she is off for her injury?

 

[cbg]

No and yes. Since you have less than 50 employees, there is no protected medical leave; since you have less than 15 employees, even if the disabilty met the definition of a covered disability under the ADA, you wouldn't be subject to it (and if it's temporary it doesn't count anyway) and unless WI has a law that specifically prohibits it (Beth?) you can require her to use her vacation.

 

[cardinal2]

Temporary disability

Regarding the above post, do you know if the employee would be eligible for unemployment if we do need to replace her?

 

[ShyCat]

To receive unemployment, the worker must be willing and able to work and actively looking for a job. She will not be able to work, so no, she won't be able to collect unemployment. That's what disability insurance is for.