The employer was open to the idea, but had not previously allowed employees to work from home and was not sure that this would be an effective solution for the employee and the company. A JAN consultant suggested implementing work from home on a trial basis and offered jan`s sample temporary/trial accommodation approval form to help the employer document accommodations. Based on practical ideas shared by JAN for the implementation of working from home as accommodation, the employer drafted a trial accommodation contract and approved the accommodation for a period of three months. 75. For information on how reassignment may apply to employers who offer light employment, see Workers` Compensation and ADA, loc. cit. 52, 20-23, 8 FEP MANUAL (BNA) 405:7401-03. Example C: An employee gives her employer a letter from her doctor stating that the employee has asthma and needs an air filter from the employer. This letter does not contain sufficient information on whether asthma is an ADA disability, as it does not provide information about its severity (i.e., whether it significantly restricts an important activity in life). In addition, the letter does not specify exactly what problem exists in the workplace that requires an air filter or other reasonable precautions.

Therefore, the employer may request additional documents. 42. With regard to the circumstances in which an employer may ask a candidate whether he needs adequate arrangements for the performance of certain tasks, see above. 87. See Hendricks-Robinson v. Excel Corp., 154 F.3d 685, 695-96, 697-98, 8 AD Cas. (BNA) 875, 883, 884 (7th Cir. 1998) (The employer may not mislead disabled workers who require reassignment in all vacant positions; nor may it publish vacancies for such a short period that disabled workers on sick leave have no realistic chance of knowing about them); Mengine vs Runyon, 114 F.3d 415, 420, 6 AD Cas.

(BNA) 1530, 1534 (3d Cir. 1997) (an employer has a duty to make reasonable efforts to assist an employee in identifying a vacancy, since an employee does not have the capacity or resources to identify a vacancy without the employer`s participation); Woodman vs Runyon, 132 F.3d 1330, 1344, 7 AD Cas. (BNA) 1189, 1199 (10th Cir. 1997) (Federal employers are much better able than employees to study in good faith the availability of vacancies). Yes. If the disability and/or the need for accommodation is not obvious, the employer may ask the person for adequate documentation of their disability and functional limitations. (27) The employer has a right to know that the person has an insured disability for which the person requires reasonable accommodation. No. An employer is not allowed to disclose that an employee is receiving adequate accommodation, as this is generally equivalent to a disclosure that the person has a disability. The ADA expressly prohibits the disclosure of medical information except in certain limited situations that do not involve disclosure to employees.

(111) Yes, if the employer`s reasonable arrangements were effective and eliminated the need for leave. (56) An employer is not required to provide an employee`s preferred accommodation as long as the employer provides effective accommodation. (57) Accordingly, instead of granting leave, an employer may make reasonable arrangements to require an employee to remain in the workplace (for example. B, reassignment of marginal duties or temporary transfer), as long as this does not affect the employee`s ability to meet his or her medical needs. However, the employer is required to restore the employee`s full duties or return the employee to his or her original position as soon as the employee no longer needs reasonable accommodation. Example A: An HIV-infected employee must take medication on a strict schedule. The drug causes extreme nausea about an hour after ingestion and usually lasts about 45 minutes. The employee requests that he be allowed to take a daily break of 45 minutes if nausea occurs. The employer must grant this request, unless there is undue hardship. This guide examines what “reasonable accommodation” means and who is entitled to it. The guidelines address what constitutes a request for reasonable accommodation, the form and content of the request, and the employer`s ability to ask questions and obtain documents after a request has been made. Example B: A marketing employee has a severe learning disability.

He attends numerous meetings to plan marketing strategies. To remember what is discussed in these meetings, he has to take detailed notes, but due to his disability, he has a lot of difficulty writing. The employee talks to his supervisor about his disability and asks for a laptop for meetings. Since neither the disability nor the need for accommodation is obvious, the supervisor may ask the employee for adequate documentation of the disability; the nature, severity and duration of the impairment; the activity or activities restricted by the disability; and the extent to which the impairment limits the employee`s ability to perform the activity or activities. The employer may also ask why the disability requires the use of a laptop (or other type of reasonable accommodation, such as . B a tape recorder) to assist the employee in maintaining meeting information. (29) The only legal limit to an employer`s obligation to take “reasonable precautions” is that such a change or modification is not necessary if it would impose “unreasonable hardship” on the employer. (16) `undue hardship` means significant difficulties or costs and focuses on the resources and situation of the employer concerned with regard to costs or difficulties related to the provision of a particular accommodation. Undue hardship refers not only to financial hardship, but also to reasonable precautions that are excessively extensive, significant or disruptive, or that would fundamentally change the nature or operation of the business. (17) The employer shall consider on a case-by-case basis whether some reasonable accommodation would cause undue hardship. The ADA`s standard of “undue hardship” is different from that used by the courts under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 1964 for religious accommodation.

(18) No, an employer cannot claim undue hardship solely because it would have to make changes to property owned by another person on the basis of reasonable accommodation. In some situations, an employer has the right to make the type of changes necessary under a lease or other contractual relationship with the landlord. If this is the case, the employer should make the changes, provided that there are no other factors that would make the changes too difficult or costly. If the contractual relationship between the employer and the owner requires the owner`s consent to the necessary changes or prohibits their implementation, the employer must make a good faith effort to obtain the owner`s permission or negotiate an exemption from the terms of the contract. If the landlord refuses to allow the employer to make the changes, the employer can claim undue hardship. But even in this situation, the employer must take other reasonable precautions, if any, that would not cause unreasonable hardship. Example A: An employee with cancer undergoes chemotherapy twice a week, which makes her very ill afterwards. The employee asks for a schedule change – vacation for the two days a week of chemotherapy. The treatment lasts six weeks.

If the employer cannot prove unreasonable hardship, the employer must grant the request. Example A: An employee tells her supervisor, “I have trouble getting to work on time because I`m undergoing medical treatment.” This is a request for adequate accommodation. If a person`s disability or the need for reasonable accommodation is not obvious and the person refuses to provide the reasonable documents requested by the employer, he or she is not entitled to reasonable accommodation. (31) On the other hand, the fact that the employer did not initiate or participate in an informal dialogue with the person after receiving a request for reasonable accommodation could give rise to liability for failure to make reasonable accommodation. (32) 28. Since a physician cannot disclose information about a patient without their permission, an employer must obtain permission from the person who allows their physician to answer questions. The disclosure must clearly indicate what information is being requested. Employers must maintain the confidentiality of all medical information collected during this process, regardless of where it comes from.

See question 42 and Explanatory Note 111 below. According to the ADA, an employee who requires leave because of his or her disability is entitled to that leave if there is no other effective accommodation and the leave does not cause unreasonable hardship. An employer must allow the person to take the accumulated paid leave first, but if this is not sufficient to cover the entire period, it should grant leave without pay. An employer is only required to maintain an employee`s health insurance benefits during their vacation period if they do so for other employees with similar vacation status. As for the employee`s position, the ADA requires the employer to keep it open while the employee is on vacation, unless the employee can prove that this results in unreasonable hardship. .