Moving toward the latest trend in office design? Don’t forget legal concerns

Office workers want to be comfortable and productive at work, and they all have different ideas on how to accomplish that goal. Some want to sit. Others want to stand. Some want privacy for focused work. Others want open space for collaborative work. Still others want comfy-cozy nooks where they can curl up with a laptop. Some want it all, and office design gurus are eager to oblige.

Business magazine Inc. published its fifth annual list of “World’s Coolest Offices” on its website on September 16, showcasing what it calls “some of the most beautiful, innovative, and just straight-up amazing company headquarters and startup offices in the world.” The publication also highlights how trends come and go. For example, the Inc. article says RIP to an earlier trend called “hot desking,” a setup in which workers don’t have assigned desks; instead they can bring a laptop and “plunk it anywhere.”

The latest trends, according to Inc., include a tendency to incorporate lots of plants and an inclination to use lightweight, movable materials that can be easily rearranged to serve different purposes. And despite the backlash against offices that are too open for workers needing quiet and privacy, designers aren’t moving back to a lot of individual offices, the Inc. report says. Instead, executives have their choice of mini conference rooms and other dedicated spaces for meetings.

Disability issues
In a world where employers invest time, energy, and money into keeping up with the latest thinking on office space, the pace of change can be daunting. Design considered state of the art one day often turns out to be a short-lived fad. So before workplace change agents get too excited about adopting the latest ideas, they might want to direct their thoughts toward what may be an overlooked area—how to make sure cutting-edge design doesn’t invite legal trouble.

For example, standing desks have many fans, but they can be a problem for employees with disabilities that make standing difficult or impossible. Likewise, employees may have disabilities that make sitting for long periods difficult. Both kinds of employees may be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), meaning employers covered under the Act are obligated to explore whether they can accommodate an individual employee’s needs.

Jonathan Mook, an attorney with DiMuroGinsberg, PC in Alexandria, Virginia, points out that employers need to provide reasonable accommodations unless doing so would constitute an undue hardship. So if all an employer’s desks require sitting and an employee can’t sit for long periods and instead needs to stand, the employer may need to purchase a standing desk for that employee. “Providing employees with choices about what desks to use (sitting or standing) certainly is a way to avoid ADA issues,” he says.

And what about the trend to incorporate plants such as vegetation-covered wall features into office designs? If the plants trigger an allergy in an employee, do they also trigger an obligation from the employer? Employers Counsel Network member Mook says he hasn’t run across any such cases, but office lighting often gets blamed for triggering migraines in some employees.

Mook explains that migraines, if properly diagnosed, are likely to be deemed disabilities under the ADA Amendments Act, so “employers certainly need to be cognizant of the potential problems that may arise with certain types of lighting,” he says.

Mook cites the example of Ekstrand v. School District of Somerset, in which the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict that a school system had violated the ADA by refusing to transfer a teacher with depression and seasonal affective disorder to a classroom with exterior windows. “Accordingly, who gets to have an office or a desk with a window view may be governed by the ADA,” he says.

In addition to structural features such as windows, fragrances can create complications at work. “Many persons suffering from migraines, immune disorders, and allergies may have debilitating episodes triggered by perfume or cleaning products or even the chemical smells in new carpeting,” Mook says. “To the extent that an individual’s sensitivity rises to the level of an ADA disability, an employer is required to take reasonable steps to eliminate the problem.”

Age concerns
Besides disability issues, employers may want to keep age issues in mind. The Inc. article mentions an innovative office that includes an elevated “eagle’s nest” nook behind glass walls sitting high above the company’s lobby. Workers conferencing there sit on the floor surrounded by cushions. The setup may be more suited to the young and agile whose knees and hips don’t pop when they get up from the floor, but could it be so off-putting to older workers that it becomes age discrimination?

Maybe not, although Mook says issues arising under the ADA and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) often coincide. As people age, they may develop disabling conditions such as bad knees, bad backs, and other natural limitations of aging that may be similar to younger workers’ disabling conditions.

“The law doesn’t require the accommodation of older employees under the ADEA,” Mook says, “but if an employer has a workplace environment that by its construction prevents older employees from fully participating in the work environment, this could be portrayed as evidence of intentional conduct by the employer to discourage older employees from continuing their employment or to prevent them from being accorded the same opportunities as younger employees. The bottom line is that employers should design the office environment to be as inclusive—not exclusive—as possible.”