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ADA

HR legislation in Congress: What’s hot, what’s not?

03/11/2008
Being an election year, it will be harder for Congress to ram through any major legislation. But some important labor and employment bills are still being hotly debated this year. Here are nine of the key bills and their chances for passage, according to a policy update given at yesterday’s SHRM conference.

Bring back injured employee quickly: A 5-step return-to-work plan

03/04/2008
When an employee is injured on the job, what you do—and when you do it—can determine not only how quickly the employee will return to work but also whether he or she will return at all.

Disability still your call, even if co-workers ‘Accommodate’

03/01/2008

Sometimes, supervisors are the last to know an employee wants an accommodation for a disability. Instead, the employee may be making her own accommodations by asking co-workers for help. Of course, the help may end up keeping them from doing their own jobs. What should you do when you find out? …

FMLA extended to military families: More changes to come?

03/01/2008

For the first time since it became law in 1993, the FMLA has been amended. President Bush signed H.R. 4986 in January. The law grants FMLA-protected leave to workers who care for injured soldiers and families of reservists called to duty …

Returning from FMLA leave may require ADA accommodation

03/01/2008

Balancing time off with reasonable accommodations can be tough if one of your employees is covered by both the FMLA and the ADA. You must be especially careful if a disability means an employee needs to take her 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave, but can’t quite return to work without an accommodation …

Temporary illnesses and injuries aren’t disabilities

03/01/2008

Fortunately for employers, not every temporary physical restriction is a disability under the ADA. Before you entertain accommodations, look at the claimed disability and decide whether the problem will resolve itself within a reasonable time frame or if it permanently impairs a major life function …

Temporary condition might be disability if severe enough

03/01/2008

The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against applicants or employees with disabilities. Typically, only permanent conditions count. But not always. Some temporary medical conditions also can constitute disabilities if they are severe enough at the time the condition exists …

Accommodations working? Then avoid sudden change of heart following injury

03/01/2008

Disabled employees who receive ADA accommodations expect those accommodations to continue even after an unrelated minor injury. If you suddenly remove the accommodation, you may find yourself facing a “regarded-as-disabled” lawsuit …

Time off for binge drinking doesn’t qualify for FMLA leave

03/01/2008
Employees who are alcoholics may be disabled under the ADA and are entitled to reasonable accommodations for treatment. That treatment also qualifies the employee for FMLA leave. But it doesn’t mean you have to tolerate or forgive unauthorized absences to indulge an alcoholic binge …

Directors and volunteers don’t count as employees

03/01/2008
The ADA applies to employers with 15 or more employees. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) covers employers with 20 or more employees. Pretty clear, right? But whom you count is crucial, especially if your head count is right on the cusp of the ADA or ADEA threshold …