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ADA

Don’t let managers hire or fire based on family health costs

03/01/2005
Issue: Can you terminate, or refuse to hire, people based on their impact to your health plan?
Risk: Employees have two paths to sue you for such cost-trimming employment actions. …

Employee can’t ‘play nice’ with others? He may be ‘disabled’

03/01/2005
Issue: Which mental impairments are considered “disabilities” covered by the ADA?
Risk: An employee’s troubles interacting with co-workers may, by itself, allow the employee to claim disability status.
Action: …

Scent or sensitivity? ‘Bad smell’ accommodation isn’t automatic

02/01/2005
Say you have an employee who complains that certain workplace smells make him or her sick. If the employee asks for an accommodation to block out the offending odors, must you …

ADA: How far must you go to ‘reasonably’ accommodate?

02/01/2005
THE LAW. The Americans with Dis-abilities Act (ADA) says employers can’t discriminate against employees who have physical or mental disabilities, and you must help them perform the critical functions of …

Well-meaning assistance won’t always mean you view worker as ‘disabled’

01/01/2005
If your organization regards an employee as having a
“disability”, even if his or her condition doesn’t rise to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)’s definition, your actions could cause …

Illness controlled by medicine can still be a ‘disability’

01/01/2005
Issue: Whether employees are considered “disabled” if their ailments can be kept in check by corrective treatments.
Risk: Many employers wrongly assume that corrective treatments wipe out an employee’s ADA …

Workers’ comp leave doesn’t stop ‘FMLA clock’

01/01/2005

Q. An employee took FMLA leave Sept. 1 due to job stress. In October, she had an operation for carpal tunnel syndrome. Workers’ comp ruled that her absence was work-related and it dated her workers’ comp claim back to Sept. 3. So, they’re now saying that her FMLA leave won’t start until she is officially released from workers’ comp. Do we need to keep a job open for her indefinitely? —F.W., Nevada

Inability to ‘get along with others’ may qualify employees as disabled

12/01/2004
Perk up your lawsuit radar if you (or one of your organization’s managers) plan to discipline an employee who has emotional problems and difficulty relating to other people. As the following …

Learn how to handle employees with ‘intellectual disabilities’

12/01/2004
If your organization employs, or is considering employing, people with so-called “intellectual disabilities,” obtain a copy of a new EEOC fact sheet that explains how to legally accommodate those employees under …

Govt. Rarely Requires In-House ‘Sick Area’

12/01/2004

Q. Is our company required to provide a couch or cot on the premises in the event that an employee becomes ill? Are there any laws that dictate safety or health reasons for doing this? —V.A., Ohio