• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

ADA

Drug testing: Minimize lawsuit risk with smart policy

09/01/2007

You have the right to demand a drug-free workplace, but employees also have reasonable rights to privacy. That’s why drug testing and substance-abuse prevention programs carry big-time legal risks if they’re not managed properly. Employers can safely administer drug testing before hiring someone, during a fitness-for-duty test and after a preventable accident …

Now hear this: Subway franchisee must pay $166,500 in ADA case

09/01/2007

A federal district court jury awarded a Subway restaurant employee $166,500 in a disability discrimination suit. After a trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the jury concluded that Bobrich Enterprises Inc., which operates Subway restaurants in Dallas, violated the ADA by harassing a hearing-impaired employee …

Handful of absences not enough to prove actual disability

08/01/2007

Disabled employees are entitled to protection from discrimination, but they must prove that they are actually disabled under the ADA or the federal Rehabilitation Act. And that’s no easy task …

Part-Time work seldom a reasonable accommodation

08/01/2007

Common sense says that an employee with full-time job responsibilities cannot perform that job on a part-time basis. But that’s essentially what disabled employees claim when they ask for a permanent reduced-hour schedule …

OK to terminate disabled worker—If there’s no way to accommodate

08/01/2007

The ADA says disabled employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations—but the key phrase is “reasonable” …

Fired worker can still receive total-Disability benefits

08/01/2007

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that an injured employee may continue to receive temporary total-disability benefits even if he no longer qualifies for his position …

Review job description to reflect realities of position

08/01/2007

Employers who don’t specify essential functions and don’t ensure their job descriptions are up to date risk “function creep” in which the employee slowly, informally whittles away at the job to the point some tasks appear no longer essential …

Apply common sense in determining ‘Substantial impairment’

08/01/2007

We’re becoming a nation of complainers, and the workplace is no exception. Consider the growing number of employees who claim they have a real or imagined disability—and want an accommodation …

If disability affects performance, demotion may be in order

08/01/2007

Disabled employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations, including the elimination of nonessential functions. But what if an employee is functioning at a lower level than the job requires? …

Make sure you can track when downsizing decision was made

08/01/2007

Employees suddenly confronted with unpleasant alterations in their duties, responsibilities or schedules may look for reasons to avoid making the change …