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ADA

No duty to accommodate when performance is impossible

03/20/2013
Sometimes, there’s no way for an in­­jured employee to perform the essential functions of a job, despite medical intervention. When that’s the case, it may be time to look for other options.

Consider ADA if sick worker needs more leave

03/20/2013
Employees who are temporarily unable to perform their jobs because of a disability are entitled to reasonable ADA accommodations. You’ll want to think about starting the interactive accommodations process as soon as a potentially disabled employee asks for more than the usual amount of leave.

Don’t try to guess reasonable accommodations

03/15/2013
Employers have no obligation to try to anticipate if a disabled employee needs reasonable accommodations. It’s up to employees to ask for accommodations help.

When pregnant worker can’t perform, factor in ADA, FMLA, PDA

03/05/2013
It can be complicated to handle a pregnant employee when she can’t perform some part of her job. That’s because three federal laws—the ADA, the FMLA and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act—intersect to provide protection for some pregnant workers who have medical restrictions.

ADA: Financial and Technical Assistance

03/05/2013

HR Law 101: Several sources of financial assistance are available to help businesses make reasonable accommodations and comply with ADA requirements. 

No need to accommodate when absence goes beyond all paid, unpaid leave

02/20/2013

You have probably read that once a disabled employee has exhausted his FMLA and other sick leave, you should still consider offering a brief leave extension as a reasonable accommodation. That’s true to a point. However, once you have allowed additional leave and the employee still isn’t cleared to return to work, it may be time to terminate him despite his disability.

Must we accommodate a bike courier who can no longer ride a bike?

02/20/2013
Q. We run a courier service delivering time-sensitive documents around the Twin Cities by bicycle. Recently, an employee broke her leg while skiing. Now she is unable to perform her job as bicycle courier. Do we have to put her in a different job while her leg is in a cast?

Is left-handedness a real disability?

02/20/2013
Q. An employee recently complained that we have failed to accommodate his left-handedness. He argued that all our desks are constructed for right-handed people. To accommodate his left-handedness, he is requesting an expensive new piece of office furniture. Do we have to accommodate him?

ADA: Firing OK if health problem is minor

02/20/2013
Firing someone because you be­­lieve he has a disability violates the ADA under some circumstances, but not all. If the disabling condition is transitory and minor, you can terminate without violating the ADA.

ADA: No need to eliminate essential functions

02/07/2013
Some disabled employees think employers should drastically modify their jobs so they are do-able, even if that means removing essential functions from job descriptions. Fortunately, there’s no such requirement.