Question

A company sends a team of employees and one field supervisor to a customer's location for a week. Employees stay in hotel rooms, two employees per room, and receive a daily meal allowance that allows the purchase of one alcoholic beverage. At dinner one evening, the employees have a few alcoholic beverages, and then they return to the hotel, where one employee passes out in the parking lot. The other employees call an ambulance, and emergency personnel ask if the unconscious employee takes any medication. The employee who shares a room with the unconscious employee goes to the room and finds the employee's medication bottles. No one rides in the ambulance or follows it to the hospital.

The field supervisor calls HR to report the incident. The HR manager asks if the employee's spouse has been called and which hospital the employee was admitted to. No one knows where the employee has been taken, nor has the employee been in contact with anyone. The field supervisor locates the employee, who is in serious condition. The employee remains unconscious; it is unknown if the employee will recover from the incident. Management wants to end the employment relationship with the employee.
The leadership team wants to implement a policy that prohibits sending employees who have medical conditions out of town on business. How should HR handle this request?

A. Agree with the leadership team and create the policy that forbids employees with medical conditions from company travel.
B. Ignore the leadership team's request because it is impractical and hope that they will forget about it
C. Require all new hires to pass a physical exam and, if the exam isn't passed, don't allow them to travel.
D. Schedule a meeting with the leadership team to address their request and offer other options that are focused on the best interests of the business.

Answer 1

HR should schedule a meeting with the leadership team to address their request and explore alternative solutions to best serve the interests of the business.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this situation, HR should follow option D, which is to schedule a meeting with the leadership team to address their request and offer other options that are focused on the best interests of the business.

Implementing a policy that prohibits sending employees with medical conditions out of town on business may not be the best solution as it may violate employee rights and could be seen as discriminatory.

Instead, HR can explore alternative solutions such as working with the employee and their healthcare provider to ensure that they are fit to travel, providing accommodations like a support person or modified duties, or reviewing the company's travel and insurance policies to address potential risks.

D. Schedule a meeting with the leadership team to address their request and offer other options that are focused on the best interests of the business.