When we think of retaliation, it’s usually in the context of an employee who has been disciplined or terminated after exercising some protected right. But what about an employee who is denied a pay raise after doing so?.
An example of a potential ADA violation would be an employee who is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from incest who requests reasonable accommodation. Her supervisor then tells the employee’s coworkers about her medical condition.
The employee tells the supervisor she intends to complain to HR about his unlawful disclosure of confidential medical information. The supervisor warns that if she complains, he will deny her the pay raise she is due to receive later that year.
There’s likely a double violation here: (1) As the ADA prohibits retaliation or interference with an employee’s exercise of his or her rights under the statute, the denial of the raise would likely be considered impermissible retaliation, and (2) because the ADA prohibits disclosure of confidential medical information, the disclosure would also be a violation.
What are some examples of other employment decisions that may violate the ADA and involve applicants or employees who experience domestic or dating violence, sexual assault or stalking?
The ADA prohibits different treatment or harassment at work based on an actual or perceived impairment, which could include impairments resulting from domestic or dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. For example:
- An employer searches an applicant’s name online and learns that she was a complaining witness in a rape prosecution and received counseling for depression. The employer decides not to hire her based on a concern that she may require future time off for continuing symptoms or further treatment of depression.
- An employee has facial scarring from skin grafts, which were necessary after she was badly burned in an attack by a former domestic partner. When she returns to work after a lengthy hospitalization, coworkers subject her to frequent abusive comments about the skin graft scars, and her manager fails to take any action to stop the harassment.
Are your compensation practices designed to attract and retain the very best performers? Find out at our webinar next Thursday.
The ADA may require employers to provide reasonable accommodation requested for an actual disability or a “record of” a disability. An actual disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities (which include major bodily functions).
A “record of” a disability is a past history of a substantially limiting impairment. An impairment does not need to result in a high degree of functional limitation to be “substantially limiting.” Examples of situations in which reasonable accommodation should have been considered:
- An employee who has no accrued sick leave and whose employer is not covered by the FMLA requests a schedule change or unpaid leave to get treatment for depression and anxiety following a sexual assault by an intruder in her home. The employer denies the request because it “applies leave and attendance policies the same way to all employees.”
- In the aftermath of stalking by an ex-boyfriend who works in the same building, an employee develops major depression that her doctor states is exacerbated by continuing to work in the same location as the ex-boyfriend. As a reasonable accommodation for her disability, the employee requests reassignment to an available vacant position for which she is qualified at a different location operated by the employer. The employer denies the request, citing its “no transfer” policy.
Compensation Strategy for the Stars: Tips for Engaging and Retaining Top Performers
Hopefully your pay practices don’t discriminate against employees who exercise protected rights—but do they do everything possible to attract and retain star workers?
The cost to recruit and hire a replacement for an employee—let alone a top performer—can be staggering, and losing top performers can have a tremendous adverse effect on your operations and overall ability to meet business goals.
Maintaining top talent is a complex task, but one surefire way to see top performers walk out your door is to commit cardinal (yet common) compensation mistakes. You simply can’t ignore the fact that every organization, at every size, should have an effective compensation strategy in place that’s geared toward keeping top talent engaged.
Do you? If not, you won’t want to miss our informative webinar on May 16—next Thursday! We’ll provide participants with a framework for developing a compensation strategy built around rewarding stellar performance so you can take a proactive approach to keeping top performers engaged and rewarded in a meaningful way—rather than begging your stars to stay when they’re halfway out the door.
You’ll learn:
- How to identify who the top performers within your organization really are
- The key factors to consider when developing a compensation strategy that seeks to not only retain top performers but also attract new leaders for your organization
- Why it’s so important to pay attention to your specific market and particular job types when developing your compensation strategy
- Why setting your merit budget based on general trends may be a mistake, and how to successfully find and use market-based data that’s more focused
- Examples of rewards and recognition that grab—and hold—top performers’ attention and loyalty
- How to ensure that the goals you set for employees in your incentive plan design are effectively tied to overall business objectives
- How to strike the optimal balance between maintaining pay equity and fairly rewarding stellar performance
- Communication tactics for fostering a culture of transparency so your employees will clearly understand the value they’re getting for their contributions
- Whether it’s worth it to offer a star employee more money when he or she is about to jump ship: how to calculate your future return on investment after accounting for the potential cost to recruit, hire, and train a comparable replacement
Don’t miss it—sign up today and claim your spot.
Download your free copy of Paying Overtime on Bonuses: A Calculation Guide today!