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Jim Ruhly presented at a workshop sponsored by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission in Madison on May 3, 2007.  The subject of Ruhly's presentation (with co-presenter Bruce Meredith) was "Pitfalls in Dealing with the Troubled Employee."  Ruhly identified a number of common pitfalls that, in his experience, employers can stumble on when confronting these difficult situations.  Ruhly cautioned employers and their representatives to avoid digging in their heels too early with these common but often troublesome initial reactions to requests from the troubled employee or from fellow employees:

1. Rules are rules and we can't be making exceptions for one employee.
2. We've done it this way for years and most of our employees are comfortable with our procedures.
3. We can't have one standard for this employee and a different standard for everyone else.
4. We have to look out for the other employees, and they know this employee is just trying to push us over the edge.
5. We have many employees and just can't spend further time trying to satisfy this one employee.
6. What an ungrateful jerk; we've bent over backwards for this guy in the past and this is the thanks we get.
7. The taxpayer (or our customers) deserve better than this and they won't stand for special treatment that increases our costs.
8. Let's assume the worst possible scenario:  we can't take that risk.
9. The employee (and his doctor, or union, or family) wants us to be part of the therapy program and that isn't our role.

Ruhly emphasized that each of these reactions may ultimately have merit and may be a legitimate part of an employer's defense in many contexts.  But he cautioned that these reactions, if allowed to paint the employer into a corner too early in the process, can interfere with the employer's obligations under the several laws that may provide protection to the "troubled employee."

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