ADA

What to do about employee who takes long leaves for medical problems?

05/23/2008

Q. We’re a small business with eight employees. One employee frequently takes off for six to eight weeks with medical problems. She’s done this each year for the past three years. It’s a huge burden because very few people have her training, so we can’t hire a temp. How long do we have to allow her to disappear for weeks at a time?

Must you grant diabetic employees extra breaks as a disability accommodation?

05/15/2008

Diabetes is not automatically a disability under the ADA. But if an employee can prove her diabetes substantially limits at least one of her major life activities, such as eating, then the employee is legally disabled and protected by the ADA …

Pre-Employment tests: Do yours meet the new EEOC guidelines?

05/15/2008

In December, the EEOC issued new guidance on employment tests and selection procedures under three laws: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The key to complying is to make sure each employment test is directly job-related and focuses on business necessity …

If accommodation can’t enable essential functions, termination may be only option

05/14/2008

Being qualified for a job doesn’t mean the person can do it well. And the inability to really execute an essential job function can warrant dismissal, even if the employee claims a disability. Take, for example, a newly hired professor who turns out to have psychological problems that prevent her from teaching class …

Handle disabled worker’s poor performance like any other

05/13/2008

Employees who have disabilities sometimes pose special challenges. Accommodating their work restrictions requires diligence and flexibility. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should ignore declining performance …

Act fast to accommodate deteriorating medical condition

05/12/2008

Under the ADA, employers must engage disabled employees in interactive discussions about how to reasonably accommodate their disabilities. But sometimes, an employee’s condition may take a rapid turn for the worse. How fast you act may mean the difference in winning or losing a later ADA reasonable accommodations case …

ADA alert: Managers and supervisors can’t force workers to disclose illnesses

05/07/2008

In safety-conscious environments—such as in the medical and food industries—employees who become ill often face questions about their health from co-workers and associates. That’s only natural. But sometimes, inquiries about an employee’s illness are simply off-limits …

Log ADA requests and start interactive accommodations process right away

05/06/2008

The ADA requires an employer that has reason to believe an employee wants an accommodation to begin an interactive accommodations process. Ignoring an accommodation request is dangerous. Instead, set up a process that logs all requests and puts the matter on the fast track to resolution …

Many serious conditions don’t amount to disabilities

05/01/2008

The ADA protects only truly disabled employees from discrimination. It isn’t enough that someone has been diagnosed with a medical condition—even a serious-sounding one like diabetes or a hepatitis infection. Each ADA case is judged on how the illness affects the individual …

You smoke, you’re fired! Lessons from the Whirlpool Case

04/29/2008

The dangers of smoking are well documented: heart disease and cancer, shorter life expectancy, higher health care expenses. Now add another risk: As workers in Indiana just found out, smoking could get you fired. Was their employer justified in taking action, or did it step into a legal quagmire?

ADA