Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By Cathleen S. Yonahara, Freeland Cooper & Foreman LLP A California Court of Appeal has found that an employer may be liable under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) for failing to accommodate a nondisabled employee’s request to modify his work schedule to care for a disabled family member. The court’s interpretation of […]
Recently the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued a ruling in which the court suggested that a policy with a strict limit on medical leaves of absence might be enforceable. This ruling leads to many questions. For instance:
By Norasha L. Williams, JD, Cozen O’Connor Quite possibly as a direct consequence of what the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) describes as a “troubling trend” in the prevalence of employer policies denying or restricting the use of leave as a reasonable accommodation, the Commission recently issued guidelines emphasizing the necessity to offer leaves of […]
By Kate McGovern Tornone, BLR Editor Current and accurate job descriptions are your best defense to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims, speakers told attendees at the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM’s) annual conference.
Today I was advised that an employee told one of his coworkers that he was sorry for working slow on a project; his explanation was that he has a blood clot in his leg and takes blood thinners. We are concerned about his safety and his ability to continue to perform his work. He does […]
By Katharine Essick, JD, Sedgwick LLP A recent California decision provides employers with a useful review of the complex landscape of disability discrimination and identifies a number of signposts for the unwary. The most important lesson from this case, however, is that when an employer evaluates an employee’s disability, the legal consequences of a factual mistake—even an […]
By BLR Senior Legal Editor Joan Farrell, JD The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued final wellness rules regarding incentives employers may use to encourage employee participation in wellness programs in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).
As employers we all strive to be in legal compliance, especially when it comes to federal regulations that protect our employees, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But it can admittedly get confusing when some legal regulations seemingly overlap or even seem almost contradictory to […]
Reasonable accommodations are an integral part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to any disabled employee or applicant—and the standard of what constitutes “reasonable” is quite broad. Essentially, an accommodation must be provided as long as one exists that does not constitute an undue hardship on the […]
By Kathy Kreps, JD, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP