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Using home as a “reasonable accommodation” under the Americans with Disabilities Act, approximately 316,000 disabled employees regularly work from home, according to TeleworkResearchNetwork.com data. Those whom ADA protects join more than 13 million U.S. residents who currently work from home at least one day a week, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released last […]
A district court’s refusal to grant an employer’s motion for summary judgment in a fired teacher’s interference and retaliation claim is a clarion call and reminder to employers that the Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees employees that their original job — or its equivalent — will be waiting for them when their FMLA leave has […]
The widespread use of manual and improvised procedures to measure, mitigate and administer employee absence suggests that many employers are taking substantial compliance risks with regard to the Family and Medical Leave Act, according to the ADP Research Institute study, Total Absence Management: Two Decades After the Passage of FMLA. Even though lost productivity due […]
Employers must consider transferring employees with disabilities so they can be close to medical care, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Sanchez v. Vilsack (No. 11-2118 (10th Cir. Sept. 19, 2012)). Clarice Sanchez worked as a secretarial employee for the U.S. Forest Service. When she fell at work, she sustained brain damage […]
A new bill would require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees just as they do for those with disabilities. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, S. 3565, is modeled after the Americans with Disabilities Act and borrows some of its language. In the same way that ADA requires accommodations for workers with disabilities, it […]
You may think that the federal, state and local courts move at a glacial pace, but they often deliberate and resist change of opinion on employment law matters because, well, the modern workplace is a living, breathing, complex organism. Telecommuting is one such complexity, as are the multitude of situations that employers need to consider […]
Employees often view the telework option as a form of recognition. They may see it as a privilege earned through good performance. Unfortunately, they also may see the work-life perk — offered to some, but not all — as an entitlement, or worse, they may see lack of telecommuting privileges as an inequity caused by […]
Employers should be aware that back pay sometimes can entail more than base compensation. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals provided that reminder through its recent holding that overtime compensation may be included in an award of back pay. The case is Pagán-Colón v. Walgreens of San Patricio, Inc., Nos. 11-1089, 11-1091 (1st Cir. […]
Letters demanding that businesses fix accessibility violations or settle with the sender are now prohibited in California thanks to a law that took effect last week. The bill, SB 1186, amended state law “by prohibiting ‘demand for money’ letters, where attorneys target businesses with alleged minor access violations and demand a quick monetary settlement in […]
The federal government should finalize its proposed hiring goal for federal contractors, the National Council on Disability said in a report to President Obama. But the feds also need to improve their own hiring practices, the council said. These are among the recommendations contained in the council’s National Disability Policy: A Progress Report, released Sept. […]