Yesterday’s Advisor covered 7 ADA traps. Today we’ll look at one more common trap—the co-worker question—and we’ll see how the famous BLR “Red Book®” takes care of many traps HR faces, especially when it comes to state law and how it interacts (and conflicts) with the federal.
Yesterday, attorney Nancy Cooper (an owner in the Portland office of law firm Garvey Schubert Barer and an Inc. magazine columnist) listed “7 deadly sins” of dealing with disabled employees and ADA compliance. Today, here’s one more of the most common traps:
How do you deal with reactions from other employees when a worker claiming disability appears to be gaming the system or getting away with doing less work than anyone else?
For example, let’s say an employee approaches you and says that she is tired of having to pick up Mary’s slack. It’s not fair. Suddenly you’re caught in the trap. You can’t reveal medical information about Mary’s condition or your accommodation.
More than 20,000 companies keep up with state law differences from the federal with BLR’s famous What to Do About Personnel Problems in [Your State] program. Choose the exact edition for your state, or D.C. Try it at no cost or risk! Click for details.
Cooper’s advice? “First, visit the ‘scream room!’” You know, that soundproof place where you let employees vent (or you do!). You may find out that Mary actually is gaming the system, or that the accommodation you thought worked doesn’t, or that there are ramifications that you didn’t anticipate.
After venting, if the questioner persists, say, “I acknowledge your frustration; I appreciate your concern.” Then go on with, “Please trust that I am doing what I need to do, and that just as I can’t discuss your personal situation with other employees, I can’t talk to you about Mary’s situation.”
If the questioning continues, say “Being gossipy and unpleasant on the floor is not in the best interest of the company. If this doesn’t stop, you may be the one suffering consequences.”
To sum up her advice on dealing with employees with disabilities, Cooper says:
State Law Adds Complexity … If You Can Find It!
The hidden traps in disability management are many and deep. And that’s just in federal law! Most states also have disability laws that intersect, or even conflict, with the federal, and that’s to say nothing of state FMLA and workers’ comp interactions with the ADA.
Unless you’re a research superstar, you might not know all you should about these state laws. Why? Unlike the federal government, which puts all new regulations into the Federal Register, states publicize them in obscure journals, not widely available. Yet officials still expect you to comply.
Fortunately, tools are available to help you keep up with state laws. One is the famous “HR Red Book” series from BLR, officially named What to Do About Personnel Problems in [Your State]. There are separate editions for almost every state, plus the District of Columbia, and you receive the exact version for your state.
This program has kept employers apprised of state law and its differences from the federal for more than two decades and is used by more than 20,000 companies. Here are some reasons they tell us they won’t be without it:
6 updates a year are included with your state’s edition of BLR’s What to Do About Personnel Problems in [Your State.] (Others charge extra for updates.) Try the program at no cost. Click for information.
Presents and Compares Federal and State Law on 200 Employment Topics. (Click the Table of Contents link below to see the full list.) For each topic, first there’s a plain-English explanation of what you need for federal compliance. Then, right next to the federal, there’s an explanation of what your state requires.
Topics Alphabetically Arranged. Pick today’s HR challenge, from “Affirmative Action” to “Workers’ Compensation,” and it’s easily found.
Updates Included. Subscribers get 6 updates a year, sent as replacement pages. And each month you get two newsletters: one national, one for your state. No separate cost for any of this.
Compensation and Benefits Reports, presenting what other companies in your state and industry pay for hundreds of jobs. Separate reports for exempt, nonexempt, and benefits are all included.
Prewritten HR Policies and Forms, ready to print and use.
The entire program costs just $1.52 a working day and can be tried free for 30 days. (The links below show samples of the various materials.)
If you’d like to see what 20,000 of your colleagues depend on every day, click here and we’ll be happy to set up a no-cost trial of your state’s version of the program.
Download national section sample
Download state section sample
Download table of contents
Download newsletter sample