If you’re an employment law nerd like me, in addition to being the envy of your neighborhood, you also know that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission does not shy away from bringing failure-to-accommodate claims on behalf of deaf individuals. Look at all of them! With limited resources at its…
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals because of a disability. A qualified individual can perform the job’s essential functions with or without a reasonable accommodation. Often, an individual with a disability will approach a supervisor or HR, identify their limitations, and ask for help.…
A recent Eighth Circuit decision helps show how an employer can discharge its obligations to engage in the Americans with Disabilities Act interactive process in good faith. Remote work during flare-ups The case involves a plaintiff with multiple sclerosis who worked in customer service at a hospital, the defendant. After…
Well, if you count The Employer Handbook itself, which email gods magically deliver to blog subscriber email inboxes every weekday following weeknights where I haven’t had too many blog-inhibiting adult beverages, I’ve got three freebies today. To remedy that, you must promise to pay me $100 if you keep reading…
I have another HR tip related to yesterday’s blog post and accommodating employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act and what counts as an essential job function. Generally, the essential functions of the job are the ones that employees perform the most. However, there are situations where rarely-performed tasks can…
If you’re in Human Resources, you’ve probably dealt with this issue before. An employee with a disability submits a doctor’s note expressly instructing the employee to avoid performing certain essential functions of their job. But the employee tells you that they can do those tasks anyway, if truly necessary. Does the Americans…
This has been an interesting start to the week at The Employer Handbook, from six-year-olds slinging racial epithets to expectorating employees. But I’m here for it. And I’m glad that you are too. I’ve fielded my share of unusual disability accommodation requests. But allowing an employee with a condition caused…
This situation comes up fairly often. An employee with a disability can’t perform their job, and needs leave to recover and return to work. We know that indefinite leave is not a reasonable accommodation. But what about taking leave with only an “expected” return to work date? Is that too…
If you’ve procrastinated all week, you still have a few hours to register for this week’s edition of The Employer Handbook Zoom Office Happy Hour, which returns today, October 28, 2022. We’re discussing leave rights and accommodations in hybrid and fully-remote workplaces. Click here (https://bit.ly/HybridRemoteAccommodations) to register. We lucked out with my…
I’m unsure if we can top this past Friday’s edition of The Employer Handbook Zoom Office Happy Hour. My FisherBroyles partners, Justin Nahama and Amy Epstein Gluck, were fountains of insight and warmth on how companies can improve employee wellbeing. You can watch the replay here on The Employer Handbook YouTube Channel…