What are my rights if I own a daycare center and have an employee that has a chronic case of head lice?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What are my rights if I own a daycare center and have an employee that has a chronic case of head lice?
She has spread it to several children and staff. I have sent her home repeatedly to get treated. Can I do some time of contact saying she can’t come back to work until the head lice are gone, she has a doctor’s note or even she has so many days to rectify the situation and then she is fired? I would like to know what my rights are in dealing with this situation.
Asked on October 15, 2015 under Employment Labor Law, South Dakota
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
Unless you have a written employment contract with her which only allows you to terminate her for certain reasons and this is not one of them or requires some process or procedure to terminate her which you must follow, she is an employee at will and you could terminate her at any time, for any reason, including chronically bringing lice into a daycare center.
Or you could suspend her until she clears up the lice and provides proof of it. Or putting the above together with an employer's right to put any terms or conditions the employer likes on employment, you can give her a written notice and/or a short agreement for her to sign stating that if she returns again with head lice, she will be terminated.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.