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ADA

ADA: Drug and Alcohol Addiction

01/10/2014

HR Law 101: The ADA requires employers to walk a fine line between enforcing reasonable workplace safety and behavioral rules and making accommodations for those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. The law doesn’t protect current users of illegal (i.e., “street”) drugs, but it does protect alcoholics and those who’ve shaken their drug addiction sufficiently to no longer be classified as active illegal users …

ADA: What to do when employee won’t cooperate

01/08/2014
The ADA says you must reasonably accommodate disabled employees. That requires substantial discussion with the employee to understand her condition and formulate a solution.

ADA accommodations too costly? Too bad!

01/08/2014
Don’t let cost-cutting measures derail ADA reasonable accommodations requests. Offering an accommodation may be far cheaper than losing a failure-to-accommodate lawsuit.

ADA: Mental Disabilities

01/08/2014

HR Law 101: A few years ago, the EEOC released guidelines that clarify employers’ responsibilities in applying the ADA to workers with psychiatric disabilities. The law protects persons with mental disabilities, and employers must reasonably accommodate them …

Words matter at work: Beware these 5 ‘lightning rod’ terms

01/07/2014
Layoff or firing? Probationary or permanent em­­ployee? Using the wrong employment-related terminology with an employee can expose your company to costly lawsuits.

ADA: Employer gets to choose accommodation

01/07/2014
It’s the employer that gets to choose a reasonable accommodation for a disabled worker, not the employee. While a disabled worker may prefer one solution over another, that’s not relevant.

‘Current’ drug users may not be disabled

01/07/2014
Can employers fire drug addicts? Or are they disabled and protected under the ADA and the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA)? That depends on individual circumstances and the definition of “current” addiction.

Offer temp job to driver too injured to drive?

01/03/2014
Q. Recently, one of our delivery drivers was hurt at home and is now unable to drive. Should we offer alternative employment?

Accommodation delayed may be accommodation denied

01/03/2014
Act fast on reasonable accommodations requests. Lengthy delays may be viewed as an outright denial of accommodations.

Periodic depression may not be ADA condition

01/03/2014
Do you have an employee who sometimes becomes depressed and needs FMLA leave on an intermittent basis to deal with flare-ups? If so, he’s not necessarily disabled under the ADA.