ADA

Be alert to new legal risk: vaccine-status harassment

06/17/2021

Harassing a co-worker because of his or her unvaccinated status might cross the line into unlawful protected-class harassment. In that case, an employer might have honest-to-goodness liability for allowing such harassment to continue uncorrected.

COVID litigation: What HR can learn from the first wave of lawsuits

05/21/2021

Since the COVID pandemic struck last March, courts have been flooded with lawsuits. These lawsuits come in a wide variety of flavors, with each offering important lessons for employers who want to avoid becoming the next target. Here are some of the top litigation triggers to help you revamp your pandemic response.

COVID anxiety: What if workers don’t want to return?

05/21/2021

What do you do with an employee who insists on working from home after you recall people to in-person work?

You must accommodate disabled job applicants

05/13/2021

The ADA requires employers to offer reasonable accommodations for disabled individuals at every step of the employment relationship, including during the job application process. Be especially aware of this if you use an online system that screens applicants and then automatically invites qualified candidates to come in for an interview.

Consider telework as ADA accommodation

05/06/2021

For almost two decades, the EEOC has urged employers to offer remote work as a possible ADA accommodation. It’s relatively easy to do, especially if you already allow employees who are not disabled to telecommute.

ADA: You can make attendance ‘essential’

04/15/2021

Some employers require timely and regular attendance as an essential job function. However, the ADA imposes limits on those expectations, requiring reasonable accommodations of some absences. Key word: Some.

HR’s next crisis: Managing the return of covid-19 ‘long-haulers’

03/09/2021

With covid-19 vaccination rates climbing and the worst of the coronavirus pandemic starting to recede, employers are becoming more optimistic that the world of work could soon return to normal. But the coast is not yet clear.

Risky business: Think twice before firing ‘sickly’ worker

02/18/2021

Never treat as disabled employees who recover from a medical emergency. Sure, some health problems cause long-term disability. But assuming someone is disabled when they’re not and taking an adverse action against them violates the ADA. The law prohibits “regarding” someone as disabled.

Explain: pregnancy accommodations temporary

02/03/2021

If the worker takes FMLA leave, she’s entitled to return to her old job when leave is over. Without clear records that the employer means the accommodation to be temporary, she may later argue she was denied reinstatement to the last position she held.

Contracts can’t rush ADA, ADEA deadlines

01/28/2021

Check your handbook for language that sets premature deadlines for employees to file discrimination complaints under the ADA and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Anything less than the time frames set out in the laws is unenforceable, a federal appeals court has ruled. In most cases, that is 300 days.

ADA