If you have a small wound on your arm and sometimes the scab comes off and it starts bleeding, can you be required to wear a bandage over it?
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If you have a small wound on your arm and sometimes the scab comes off and it starts bleeding, can you be required to wear a bandage over it?
I’m a diabetic and it is taking a long time to heal. I sign out equipment such as 2-way radios, guns and iPods to employees. Someone complained I was bleeding all over the equipment which is not
true. I have no contagious disease which is what I guess they are worried about. What are my rights?
Asked on June 2, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Ohio
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
You absolutely may be required to wear a bandage over it. Coworkers have a right to not be exposed to your blood, whether or not you believe you have an infectious disease or not, or even just to the sight of a bleeding wound. Because you know that you heal slow and have a wound on your arm that periodically or occasionally may open up, you have to take action to cover it up appropriately. If you fail to do so, because it is unreasonable for you to not do this, your employer could terminate you (or do anything short of termination, like suspending, demoting, transferring/changing jobs, etc. you).
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