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ADA

Track every accommodation request to show when employees asked—or didn’t

02/12/2019
Disabled employees who need reasonable accommodations must request them. If no request is made, no ADA accommodation is due. That’s why it is important to routinely track when you receive accommodation requests.

Job descriptions: Why you need ’em, how to write ’em

02/05/2019
Federal labor law requires HR professionals to do a lot of different things. Writing job descriptions is not one of them. Because this arduous task is optional, many organizations skip right over it. That’s not wise. There are many practical and legal reasons to draft (and up­­date) job descriptions.

Sometimes, it’s impossible to accommodate disability

02/04/2019
There are limits to what’s considered a reasonable ADA accommodation.

Appeals court rules against health-care employee who refused vaccine

02/04/2019
The ADA prohibits employers from forcing employees to undergo medical testing before being offered a job. Employers should always be prepared to justify testing before requiring employees to participate.

Insist on working within medical restrictions

02/04/2019
The ADA doesn’t require employers to let disabled employers test the limits of their abilities in ways that may lead to injury.

ADA: No need to create new job as accommodation

01/24/2019
When workers need time to heal from workplace injuries, many employers accommodate temporary restrictions by assigning them to light-duty tasks until they’re ready to resume their old jobs. But if the restrictions become permanent, the employer doesn’t have to create a permanent light-duty job.

Don’t let disability stop legitimate discipline

01/23/2019
It’s reasonable to worry that disciplining an employee who is disabled might trigger a lawsuit. Don’t let those kinds of concerns dissuade you from otherwise legitimate discipline. Courts general allow employers great leeway to punish employees who seem to genuinely deserve it.

Nuances of the ADA: 9th Circuit rules on definition of ‘regarded as disabled’

01/11/2019
The federal appeals court with jurisdiction over California employers has ruled that a worker doesn’t have to prove his employer believed he was substantially impaired in order to sue under the ADA if the employer discriminated against him by regarding him as disabled.

Requesting accommodation after discipline is too late

01/02/2019
Under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, disabled employees are entitled to accommodations. But timing is everything if a worker is disciplined before revealing a disability that may have contributed to work problems.

Consent decree offers practical guidance for managing disability and return to work

12/18/2018
The EEOC has entered into a consent decree that demonstrates what employers can and cannot do when faced with a disabled worker.