Human Resource Blog

How is memory loss of an employee addressed

Employee Memory Loss
Question: Female employee appears to have severe memory loss that is affecting job performance. Can’t remember assignments. When suggested to make notes of assignments forgets to refer to notes. Verbal communications are forgotten. She is a Supervisor, conversations and assignment with staff and given to staff are forgotten. Must make constant reminders and status checks with responses that they were forgotten. Seriously affecting performance. Employee is at the point of needing note to remind of note to look at written reminders. Can you recommend any action or remedy?

Thanks for posting such an interesting question!

The critical point here is that the employer needs to address the performance problem…not the underlying physical condition. The employer can offer support and encourage the employee to have this diagnosed, but ultimately the employer must make decisions based on the employees performance, not the employees medical condition (or the employers assumptions about the employees medical conditions.)

There are a number of conditions that could cause this behavior. If the employee is 40 or older, this could be Alzheimer’s or early-onset Alzheimer’s (especially if the onset is recent.) If the supervisor has always had this problem, it may very well be Adult ADD — a condition that was seldom diagnosed until recently. It could be a brain tumor, or the employee could be hard of hearing. Alcoholism and drug abuse often contribute to short-term memory loss. Severe grief, OCD or bipolar disorder may contribute to forgetfulness. Or it could be a different problem altogether.

Whatever the cause, it appears that the employee is in denial about the problem and its effects on her career. She is probably minimizing the situation in her own mind, thinking *everyone forgets things sometimes.* And, if the forgetfulness is pervasive enough, she may not remember how often she has forgotten crucial information!

Several years ago, this type of severe forgetfulness was seen as an inevitable consequence of aging…but it is not. Do not make this issue about the employees age, disability or medical condition. It is about her performance, pure and simple.

As much as we would like to know what is going on with this employee, it really does not matter. In every case, the employers course of action is the same. It is not acceptable for the employer to have to micro-manage a supervisor because she has forgotten critical information.

The employer needs to sit down privately with the employee (perhaps with HR or another witness present) and calmly discuss this employees performance issues. The employer should have a number of specific examples of cases where the employee has failed to perform as expected, due to forgotten important information, forgotten conversations with staff, or forgotten to read reminders, etc. The employer needs to make it clear in no uncertain terms that *I forgot* is not an acceptable excuse for poor performance.

The goal here is to be understanding and supportive, but to present the employee with so much evidence that she can no longer deny that there is a problem. Let the employee know that you are concerned about her health — but also, that if these performance problems continue, you will have no alternative except to fire her.

Strongly urge the employee to seek medical care to learn why she is having these problems. Let her know that if she has a disability, you are willing to make reasonable accommodations for it. But ultimately if she cannot perform her job well, even with an accommodation, then she will be terminated.

It is a good idea to document this discussion with a written warning for poor performance. Again, the issue is not forgetfulness — it is the resulting poor performance. (And stop compensating for the employees poor performance by reminding her to read her written reminders. This is just camouflaging the problem.)

Do not be surprised if the employee becomes irate during the conversation, even if you are very diplomatic. Anger is a frequent symptom of early-onset Alzheimer’s, personality changes often accompany brain tumors or addiction, and people are often indignant that anyone is questioning their mental prowess.

If the employee does not recall the myriad times she has performed poorly due to her forgetfulness, it will feel to her that she is being wrongly accused. Ideally, you will remain calm and have piles of objective evidence that these events did occur.

Be aware that even if the employee does seek medical attention, she does not owe you information about her diagnosis. There is a good chance that her condition is a disability, and that at some point in the future she will request a reasonable accommodation under ADA. However, if she is unable to perform up to standard even with the reasonable accommodation, you will be justified in letting her go.