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ADA

Updating job descriptions

06/17/2008
Q. Several of our job descriptions have not been revised in decades. What type of information should we include in the updated descriptions? …

Inability to sit does not constitute a disability

06/11/2008
Employees sometimes think that just about any minor medical or physical problem is a disability protected under the ADA. Simply put, that just isn’t the case. As the following case shows, being unable to sit for a few hours at a time isn’t a covered disability …

Accommodated worker failing? You can terminate

06/11/2008
You have an obligation under state and federal disability laws to provide disabled employees with reasonable accommodations. But sometimes accommodations don’t improve attendance or performance. Sometimes the disabled employee doesn’t cooperate. In those cases, what are your options? …

Just asking for help doesn’t trigger accommodation process

06/04/2008
If employees’ disabilities aren’t obvious, the ADA doesn’t protect them if they don’t make it clear they have a disability. Only after an employee reveals he has a disability are you obligated to pursue reasonable accommodations. Vague requests such as asking for “more help” aren’t enough to trigger the ADA …

Employee has used all FMLA leave? Assess disability status before terminating

05/23/2008
The FMLA entitles employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to deal with a serious health condition. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should immediately terminate an employee who can’t return to her job right away. That could violate the ADA …

After learning of possible serious medical condition, what are our legal obligations?

05/23/2008
Q. An employee told us he has a bad hernia. He wants to wait a couple months to have the operation, since it requires six weeks’ recovery. He does some lifting in his job. Yesterday, he had to go home early because he was in pain. Now that we are aware of his condition, what’s our liability? And what should we do?

What to do about employee who takes long leaves for medical problems?

05/23/2008
Q. We’re a small business with eight employees. One employee frequently takes off for six to eight weeks with medical problems. She’s done this each year for the past three years. It’s a huge burden because very few people have her training, so we can’t hire a temp. How long do we have to allow her to disappear for weeks at a time?

Must you grant diabetic employees extra breaks as a disability accommodation?

05/15/2008
Diabetes is not automatically a disability under the ADA. But if an employee can prove her diabetes substantially limits at least one of her major life activities, such as eating, then the employee is legally disabled and protected by the ADA …

Pre-Employment tests: Do yours meet the new EEOC guidelines?

05/15/2008
In December, the EEOC issued new guidance on employment tests and selection procedures under three laws: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The key to complying is to make sure each employment test is directly job-related and focuses on business necessity …

If accommodation can’t enable essential functions, termination may be only option

05/14/2008
Being qualified for a job doesn’t mean the person can do it well. And the inability to really execute an essential job function can warrant dismissal, even if the employee claims a disability. Take, for example, a newly hired professor who turns out to have psychological problems that prevent her from teaching class …