August 31 Tip of the Week

Before COVID-19 hit back in March, our attorneys advised clients on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) frequently, but once stay-at-home orders began to be lifted and employers started calling their employees back to work, our clients were hit with a tidal wave of ADA reasonable accommodations requests.  As a result, it is extremely important that employers understand that once an employee makes a request for an accommodation based upon an underlying health issue, the movie theater marquee in your head should read “Coming Soon to a Workplace Near You: The ADA Interactive Process” loud and clear.  The term “interactive process” is just a fancy way to describe an open and honest conversation between the employee, HR and/or their manager, and usually, the employee’s physician.  As soon as the employer becomes aware that the employee needs an accommodation due to a disability, this marks the beginning of the interactive process.  Learn what the disability is (by requesting a physician complete a questionnaire, when necessary), and then work with the employee to see what creative solutions you can come up with that allow the employee to keep working despite their disability.  The Job Accommodation Network website is a great resource for employers when considering accommodations options and our attorneys can help as well by reviewing physician questionnaires, proposing possible accommodations, and walking employers through each step of the process.