Topic Background :

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) was enacted to prohibit discrimination based on disability against individuals with disabilities in all areas of life. Title I of the ADA prohibits discrimination in employment as regards both applicants and employees. Title I’s prohibitions regarding discrimination covers physical, mental and psychiatric disabilities.

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The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) broadened the definition of “disability” under the ADA. The ADAAA’s purpose was to restore and strengthen the ADA to be interpreted broadly. Broadened such that not only is the impairment itself open to scrutiny, so is the approach the employer took to accommodate (or not) the employee. Nevertheless, even in 2019, a surprising number of employers are still operating under the requisites of the original ADA.It is imperative that employers first, recognize the broad protections of the ADA covering their employees. Second, become better accomplished in how to accommodate employees. Third, learn how to have these conversations and have them at the simplest level at which they can be effective.The first step of accommodation is to talk to the employee, which is often referred to as an interactive dialogue. However, the regs state that such a process should be no more burdensome than necessary to accomplish results.

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When an employer knows an employee is struggling to do their job, an interactive process is a critical part of any accommodation process. After all it’s hard for an employer to prove the claim that they attempted to accommodate an employee if the employer never talked to the employee. Such an interaction needs to be a collaborative process and no more complicated than necessary with the purpose to find an accommodation that brings the employee up to the expected performance level for their job and that is not an undue hardship on the employer.

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Once an accommodation is agreed upon, the accommodation needs to be monitored for effectiveness for both the employee and employer. If the accommodation does not work for either party, then there needs to be further discussion.This webinar will cover how to have effective, low drama, accommodation discussions that discover solutions that work for both the employee and the company.

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Areas Covered In the Webinar :

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• What is the ADA.

• What the ADA requires of employers and what the ADA requires of employees.

• What is an interactive process?

• What is expected of an employer in an interactive process?

• How to structure a simple interactive process.

• How to have an accommodation discussion.

• What to do when conversations do not go as planned.

• How time off features in an interactive process.

• Attendance problem solutions.

• How to handle temporary transfers and light duty assignments.

• Does an employer have to do exactly as the employee requests? 

• How company policies and benefits can change matters.

• The role of the employee’s medical provider.

• What types of medical information an employer can require. Why an employer may not want to gather all the medical information the ADA allows and under what circumstances an employer does.

• What your Supervisors and Managers need to know.

• Managing other employee’s perceptions (and frustrations.)

• Managing the changing circumstances of disabilities. 

• How to follow up.

• What to do if the employee is not cooperating with the parameters of the agreed upon accommodation. 

• What to do if you think the employee poses a substantial risk to him/herself or others.

• Handling employee complaints of harassment, mistreatment, including retaliation and interference.

 

Who Will Benefit :
 

Human Resources Personnel 

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Presenter : Teri Morning

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Note : Recorded access is available for this topic. If you are interested, write to us at contactus@compliancefeed.com