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ADA

When is telecommuting a reasonable accommodation under the ADA and state law?

09/19/2014
Q. One of my employees was recently injured in a nonwork-related accident. If this employee returns to work and requires an accommodation to perform his duties, can allowing him to telecommute be considered reasonable accommodation?

Employee must request more leave as ADA accommodation

08/29/2014
Employees facing the end of FMLA or other medical leave are sometimes entitled to additional time off as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. But they have to ask.

Are we courting trouble by denying accommodations to pregnant employees?

08/18/2014
Q. Since pregnancy does not qualify as a disability under the ADA, our company denies all special accommodation requests granted by otherwise healthy employees who are pregnant. Does this policy make us vulnerable to a lawsuit?

Does our automatic termination policy expose us to liability for ADA violations?

08/18/2014
Q. Our company has a leave-of-absence policy that states that any employee on leave longer than 12 months will be terminated. Our company’s leadership insists on this policy out of what they call business necessity. Are we opening ourselves up to risk?

EEOC publishes new guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination Act

08/14/2014
The EEOC has issued new guidance tying Pregnancy Dis­­crimi­­na­­tion Act requirements to the broader disability definition in the ADA Amendments Act.

Employee must address ADA, FMLA thresholds up front

07/31/2014
Here’s a case that may help you get an ADA or FMLA case dismissed quickly when an employee is acting as her own attorney. A worker has to allege up front in her lawsuit that her employer has enough employees to be covered by the FMLA or the ADA.

Telecommuting a reasonable accommodation?

07/15/2014
Q. We have an employee with a disability who has requested to work from home part time as an accommodation for her disability. Are we required to grant this request?

OK to terminate if ADA accommodation fails

06/24/2014
Sometimes, a disabled employee simply cannot perform his or her job to the standards you legitimately expect. If you make reasonable accommodations and try to find a way for the employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job, you have done all you are required to do. You can terminate the employee for poor performance.

Demand the medical info you need to set up ADA accommodations

06/18/2014

Disabled employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations, which must be decided on the basis of an interactive discussion between the employer and employee. Some employees, perhaps sensitive about their medical histories, try to limit the information their employers can see. That can compromise the interactive process.

When accommodating pregnant employee, make sure measures truly relate to pregnancy

06/16/2014

Under the ADA and state discrimination law, pregnant women may be entitled to accommodations at work. For example, if a pregnancy involves medical complications, an employee may be entitled to a reduced schedule, shift changes or temporary assignments to accommodate lifting restrictions. However, requests for changes that are only tangentially related to a pregnancy don’t have to be honored.