HR Management & Compliance

Is the Function ‘Essential’? 5 Questions to Be Sure

Yesterday’s Advisor clarified the concept—and importance—of essential functions. Today’s questions will help you be sure functions are “essential,” plus we introduce BLR®’s unique 10-minutes-at-a-time training program.

 

Essential Function or Not?

Here are five questions that can help you decide whether a function is an essential function:

1. Does the position exist specifically to perform this function? For example, when a person is hired to proofread legal documents, the ability to proofread is an essential function. Or, for example, a manufacturing company advertises for a “floating” supervisor to substitute when regular supervisors on all three shifts are absent. The only reason this position exists is to have someone who can work on any of the three shifts. Therefore, the ability to work at any time of the day is an essential function.

2. Is the function highly specialized? In certain professions and highly skilled positions, you may hire a worker because of his or her special ability or expertise in performing a particular function. The performance of that specialized task would be an essential function.

3. Is there a limited number of employees among whom the function can be distributed? If you employ relatively few employees, the options for reorganizing work may be more limited. For example, in a three-person office, each employee might be required to answer the main telephone line; in a 20-person office, an employee might be excused from that duty because others would be available to perform it.

4. Would the job be fundamentally altered if you were to remove the function in question? If the purpose of the job would still be accomplished without performing the function, it might not be an essential one.


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5. What happens if the function is not performed? If the consequences of failure to perform the function are severe, the function might be essential, even if infrequent. For example:

  • An airline pilot spends only a few minutes of flight landing a plane, but landing the plane is an essential function.
  • A firefighter only rarely has to carry a heavy person from a burning building, but being able to perform this function would be essential to the firefighter’s job.

Other Factors to Consider

Other factors that might be considered in determining whether a function is essential:

  • The employer’s judgment of what duties are “essential,” as reflected in a current job description;
  • How the function is treated in documents, such as the job description and job advertisements, which are created before advertising or interviewing for the job;
  • The amount of time spent performing the function; and
  • Whether the performance evaluation includes the function.

Essential functions and the ADA—one of, what, 30 things you need to train supervisors on? Training is critical, but who’s got the time?
We’ve solved that with an easy-to-manage program that lets you train in discrete, 10-minute chunks. It’s a program that’s easy for you to deliver and that requires little time from busy schedules—BLR’s unique 10-Minute HR Trainer®.
No budget? If you’re like most companies in these tight budget days, you will like that it is reasonable in cost.


Yes, you do have the budget and time to train managers and supervisors with BLR’s® 10-Minute HR Trainer. Get it Now.


As its name implies, this product trains managers and supervisors in critical HR skills in as little as 10 minutes for each topic. 10-Minute HR Trainer offers these features:

  • Trains in 50 key HR topics. Includes all major employment laws, including manager and supervisor responsibilities, and how to legally carry out managerial actions from hiring to termination. (See a complete list of topics below.)
  • Uses the same teaching sequence master teachers use. Every training unit includes an overview, bullet points on key lessons, a quiz, and a handout to reinforce the lesson later.
  • Completely prewritten and self-contained. Each unit comes as a set of reproducible documents. Just make copies and you’re done. (Take a look at a sample lesson below.)
  • Updated continually. As laws change, your training needs do as well. 10-Minute HR Trainer provides new lessons and updated information every 90 days, along with a monthly Training Forum newsletter, for as long as you are in the program.
  • Works fast. Each session is so focused that there’s not a second’s waste of time. Your managers are in and out almost before they can look at the clock, yet they remember small details even months later.

Evaluate It at No Cost for 30 Days

We’ve arranged to make 10-Minute HR Trainer available to our readers for a 30-day, in-office, no-cost trial. Review it at your own pace, and try some lessons with your colleagues. If it’s not for you, return it at our expense. Click here and we’ll set you up with 10-Minute HR Trainer.

1 thought on “Is the Function ‘Essential’? 5 Questions to Be Sure”

  1. It’s a good idea to share these questions with your managers. They often misunderstand what constitutes an “essential function.”

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