Tag: ADA

Can I Fire an Employee for Being Loud?

Q We run a fine-dining restaurant in which the ambient atmosphere is an integral part of our business. We host many business lunches and other professional-type meetings because of the quiet and relaxed environment. That environment has changed a little bit lately as the result of our new hostess, Kimberly. Kimberly is quite the talker. […]

Can I Fire an Employee for Being Loud?

Q We run a fine-dining restaurant in which the ambient atmosphere is an integral part of our business. We host many business lunches and other professional-type meetings because of the quiet and relaxed environment. That environment has changed a little bit lately as the result of our new hostess, Kimberly. Kimberly is quite the talker. […]

Worker Hands Employer Tough FMLA, ADA Case

(Updated Dec. 30, 2009) Q. We have an employee who works as an administrative assistant. She was recently in a car accident and injured her arm, hand, and wrist. Her main job duty is to transcribe documents. That often requires her to type for hours at a time. She also is responsible for taking handwritten […]

Expert: ‘First, Visit the Scream Room!’ (Managing Disabilities … Part 2)

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 […]

7 Hidden Traps in Managing Workers with Disabilities, and Dealing with the ADA.

In the age of the Americans with Disabilities Act, dealing with employees with disabilities can be tricky. In a BLR audio conference, a noted HR columnist for Inc. magazine recently revealed just how tricky. Here are traps she says to avoid. Dealing with employees with disabilities presents many traps for unwary employers, says Nancy Cooper, […]

3 Tough Disciplinary Issues: Drug and Alcohol Use, Insubordination, Workplace Searches

by Stuart R. Buttrick Although the types of misconduct that employees can engage in is unlimited, some disciplinary issues occur over and over again. Among the most common — and difficult — issues for employers to handle are drug and alcohol use, insubordination, and workplace searches of company or employee property. This article will offer […]

Disabilities: How Do We Determine Whether an Employee Is a Safety Threat?

We have a large workforce, and many people operate machinery, fork trucks, etc. Plus, many handle hazardous substances. We now think that some employees have medical conditions that may cause them to lose concentration, and we have some other employees who may be taking medications that might affect their ability to work safely. How do […]

Employee With Perfume Allergy Loses Discrimination Claim

(Updated October 2008) A federal appeals court affirmed the dismissal of a disability discrimination claim based on perfume sensitivity. It found that the employer reasonably accommodated the employee by taking various measures, including prohibiting perfume in the workplace. HR Guide to Employment Law: A practical compliance reference manual covering 14 topics, including the Americans with […]

Finally … A Reasonable Explanation of ADA Reasonable Accommodation …

… and the ADA’s other key term, “undue hardship,” made less unduly hard to understand. What foreign language did you take in school? French or Spanish, perhaps? Well, apparently, there are some pretty talented editors who took legalese … the ability to translate government regulatory jargon into understandable English … and they majored in it. […]