Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Susan Hartmus Hiser Q We have an employee whose work performance has been slipping lately. We have reason to believe that she is suffering from depression because she was diagnosed as bipolar and had a bout of depression a few years ago that led to a similar decline in her work performance. We allowed […]
by J. Steven Massoni Mental impairments are some of the most challenging disabilities to accommodate. Read on to learn about how one company managed a difficult situation with an employee who suffers from a mental health disorder and how your company should respond in similar circumstances. Imagine this Kenneth Tyler has worked for the company […]
by Steven T. Collis You know you can’t discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability. But what if you are convinced the person’s disability would create a significant risk of harm to him or others if he’s allowed to perform the intended job? The “direct threat” defense may help you avoid liability for a […]
by Besse H. McDonald The Colorado Civil Rights Division has released a suggested notice for employers to post related to the state’s new pregnancy accommodation law. Under the law, Colorado employers must post a notice of employee rights as well as provide written notice to new hires at the start of employment and existing employees […]
by Deanna L. Forbush Most employers have several policies explaining their expectations for employee appearance and hygiene. The policies generally include topics such as appearance, dress, disruption of the workplace, health and safety, and interaction with other employees. Appearance and hygiene policies are generally published in an employer’s personnel handbook. Many employers require employees to […]
by Micah Dawson Colorado’s new law requiring employers to engage in an interactive process to assess potential reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth will go into effect on August 10. The new law, House Bill 16-1438, stipulates that employers must engage in the interactive process, provide reasonable accommodations […]
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 Paige Hoster Good On May 9, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a new guidance document addressing the intersection of employer-provided leave of absence and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This document doesn’t create any new EEOC agency policy or propose any new law. Rather, it consolidates current guidance on the […]
While the provision of a personal assistant generally has not been considered a “reasonable” accommodation required by disability nondiscrimination laws, federal employers may soon have to make such accommodations for workers with disabilities. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking scheduled to be published in the Federal Register Feb. 24, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission […]
An appeals court won’t rehear a case in which it ruled that United Airlines was not required to reassign a worker with a disability because that accommodation would have violated its collective bargaining agreement’s seniority policy. The court also held that the lower court properly dismissed the case because the employee failed to identify any […]