ADA

Doc clears return to work? Disability unlikely

08/23/2012

When an employee has a life-threatening and acute illness, he may need time off to recover. That’s a legitimate use of FMLA leave. But what if the employee fully recovers and comes back to work with a clean bill of health from his doctors, yet still feels weaker, more fatigued and not quite back to full health?

ADA doesn’t require commute-friendly transfer

08/21/2012

Disabled employees may ask for a transfer to a job closer to home to ease a difficult commute, but the ADA doesn’t obligate employers to help.

How to make medical inquiries the legally safe way

08/15/2012

Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act is like walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls, only without a tether. If you fall off, you end up getting whisked away by lawsuits and drowning in litigation. That’s especially true when it comes to the ADA’s rules on medical inquiries about employees.

Normal pregnancy isn’t an ADA-covered disability

08/14/2012

Employees undergoing normal pregnancies don’t have an ADA claim.

Consider ADA–not just the FMLA–when employee experiences difficult pregnancy

08/14/2012

Most pregnancies proceed normally, with little or no real trouble for the mother. However, that’s not always the case. When things go wrong, the mother-to-be may be entitled to reasonable accommodations under the ADA. That’s true even if she hasn’t worked for her employer long enough to be eligible for FMLA leave.

Can we demand certification of violent employee’s alleged mental illness?

07/31/2012

Q. One of our employees physically threatened her co-workers. When confronted about the incident, the employee claimed that her behavior resulted from being bipolar. May we ask the employee to provide medical certification to prove that she is bipolar?

How not to treat a learning-disabled employee

07/31/2012

Here’s a cautionary tale for supervisors who have a learning-disabled subordinate. Do all you can to accommodate the employee and don’t let co-workers—or anyone in the workplace—make fun of disability traits.

School drops teacher’s contract after son comes out

07/27/2012

Sharon Wright, a former teacher at Covenant Christian Academy in Harrisburg is suing the private school, claiming officials there made her life intolerable after her son revealed he is gay on a social media website.

Consider ADA before applying tardiness rules

07/27/2012

When an employee tells her supervisor she has a disability that makes it hard for her to get to work on time, it’s critical to factor that into any decision to apply a no-fault tardiness policy. Refusing to do so may be disability discrimination.

After surgery, look for ways to accommodate employee

07/25/2012

Make sure your supervisors know they must consider post-surgery ADA accommodations and should forward such requests to HR. Under no circumstances should an employee be summarily fired just because she’s used up her FMLA leave and still needs help during recovery.

ADA