Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Massachusetts General Law Chapter 151B (Chapter 151B) both require employers to provide reasonable accommodations absent undue hardship to employees and to engage in an interactive dialogue with those who need a reasonable accommodation. Employers that fail to do so face legal liability. The recent jury verdict in Menninger […]
A recent federal court decision notes that disabled employees or employees with substance abuse problems must comply with an employer’s policies and meet reasonable performance standards. Stephen Drizos, a long-term employee and financial advisor for PNC Investments, suffered from alcoholism. Some years after he began his employment, his alcoholism started to impact his attendance at […]
We all know the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave to care for a serious medical condition of the employee or the employee’s family member. Despite the fact the FMLA is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, employers are still grappling with its […]
Companies routinely use separation agreements with departing employees. Through those agreements, the employee receives some type of separation benefit (typically a payment or severance) in exchange for waiving and releasing any potential claims against the company. The goal is to avoid an existing or potential dispute, claim, or lawsuit. But if companies don’t routinely review […]
When an employee comes to you with a proposed job modification to accommodate a health condition, consider the requested accommodation. But remember: You can offer a different accommodation that addresses the employee’s health condition but doesn’t pose the operational challenges the employee’s requested accommodation would cause. That’s the route UPS took with one of its […]
Can artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning programs lead to discrimination claims? The simple answer is yes, and the recent settlement between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and three integrated English-language tutoring companies known as iTutorGroup, Inc., confirms any doubts employers might have. Now more than ever, employers should carefully evaluate the benefits and […]
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to engage in an interactive, good-faith process to determine if reasonable accommodations can be made for disabled employees that would allow them to perform the essential functions of the job. A recent case decided by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (which has jurisdiction over North Carolina) […]
Since 1977, employers evaluating whether an employee’s religious accommodation request would cause undue hardship on their business had a low burden to meet. A denial of a religious accommodation could likely be justified if the proposed accommodation involved more than de minimis cost or inconvenience to the employer. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court changed that […]
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings cover Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) shocked employers out of the summer doldrums with a new opinion issued on June 28, 2023. In a 2-1 vote, it declared that remote work or commuter assistance for an employee in the Houston area can be a reasonable accommodation under […]
On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving a former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) worker who was denied a religious accommodation to observe his sabbath. The broad implications of a decision that favors the former worker could change the analysis for employers when assessing employee requests for religious […]