ADA

Develop a process for extending FMLA leave

01/26/2024

Every employer needs a clear process for handling requests for additional time off after an employee exhausts FMLA leave. How you handle those requests can make the difference between winning and losing a disability discrimination lawsuit.

Beware bad-mouthing effective employees after they request accommodations

01/22/2024

Always keep an eye on the optics of the employment-related actions your organization’s managers take and the decisions they make. Suddenly criticizing an employee who recently sought a disability accommodation, for example, is not just a bad look; it could also trigger a costly lawsuit.

ADA: If employee’s preferred accommodation won’t work, you must explore alternatives

01/17/2024

Here’s a reminder to make sure you pay more than lip service to following the ADA and its requirement to reasonably accommodate disabled applicants who are qualified to perform their jobs. As one employer recently learned, it’s not enough to become known as a welcoming place for disabled workers. You must follow through whenever a disabled employee requests a reasonable accommodation.

Accommodating Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia in the workplace

01/17/2024

If you have a worker who reveals a dementia diagnosis and requests reasonable accommodations, follow your usual ADA accommodations process. Determine if the employee is disabled and discuss possible accommodations using the ADA’s interactive process.

Help employees who are experiencing infertility and pregnancy loss

12/19/2023

There’s a good chance at least some of your employees may need accommodations as well as leave as they attempt to conceive, remain pregnant or deliver a child.

ADA: Unpaid leave can be reasonable accommodation

12/04/2023

The ADA requires employers and disabled employees to engage in an “interactive process” to explore possible accommodations that will enable the employee to perform a job’s essential functions. Then, the employer can pick the reasonable accommodation it prefers. But what if the employer chooses to place the employee on unpaid leave until a temporary flare-up of a disabling condition subsides?

Blanket refusal to accommodate leads to ADA liability

11/15/2023

Employers cannot simply declare that a specific accommodation in all circumstances creates an undue hardship. Consider each disability case individually.

ADA: Regularly review essential job functions

10/23/2023

Under the ADA, disabled workers are entitled to reasonable accommodations that allow them to perform the essential functions of their jobs. But what is an essential function? That’s almost entirely up to the employer to determine. Courts will almost always defer to the employer’s criteria as long as the employer identifies what it considers essential in job postings and job descriptions.

How to accommodate employees affected by sleep disorders, insomnia

10/19/2023

Together with insomnia, many sleep disorders may qualify as both disabilities under the ADA (warranting reasonable accommodations) and serious health conditions under the FMLA (entitling employees to take blocks of leave or intermittent leave for treatment or rest)

ADA: Make medical inquiries after extending job offer