Currently at my organization we are in the process of reorganizing my area and in that process I have come across an ethical issue that I must address. I have a woman that works for me that is very over weight and has a few related health issues. Right now she currently works as a machine operator and is restricted medically from standing 8 hours consecutively a day. We have made reasonable accommodations for her where she has been given a sit/stand stool for her work station. In the new layout of the area, my intention was to move people around and perform cross training for everyone in the assembly area. This would mean that I would have to move her from her current work station and have her work in multiple stations. The reason I feel this is an ethical issue is because I feel that she uses her disability to her advantage. She blames her lack of productivity on her inability move faster, if I move her for cross training and she is unable to keep up with the productivity numbers for the area, she could possibly loose her job due to disciplinary actions.
When setting the timeline for the area move I needed to set up a timeline for the cross training to begin. I set up a meeting with my boss and human resources to make sure I was following all of the guidelines set up for this type of issue. I brought with me to the meeting all of the notes and documented history of conversations I had with this employee in regards to her lack of meeting the expectations for productivity. On two of her performance reviews it was noted that she had been unable to meet the productivity numbers for her area. I also had documentation of conversations I have had with her in regards to counseling her on action plans for getting her to increase her productivity numbers. As we sat to discuss the issues, I voiced my concern about the impact on the employee and if the decision we needed to make was going to be an ethically defensible decision as well.
Setting aside the...