ada accommodations bipolar
On 1 January, a new act known as the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments went into effect, extending the meaning of the word "disability".
Both employers and employees expect the regulation of the Equal Opportunities Commission, which would provide guidance to the current situation of law. Many believe that the rules have changed the employment picture completely.
For example, the regulations make clear that the bar for claims has been reduced substantially. In the past, an employee had to prove that the employer believes that he or she as unable to perform or severely restricted in the performance of some major life activity because of a mistaken belief about the shortcomings of the person, who was a very difficult standard to meet. Current regulations state that the employee only demonstrate that the employer believes that the individual can not do the job.
Another change was in the area of mitigation measures. Under the law above, if an employee had some kind of impediment that could be reduced or eliminated, that person was not considered impaired for purposes of the ADA. For example, if the person can remedy or mitigate their bad vision goggles, the person is not considered impaired under the ADA. Now, those mitigation measures will not be considered.
Some illnesses are considered disabled per se, such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, HIV / AIDS, diabetes and bipolar disorder. This means that an employer would have the obligation to work with employees about reasonable accommodations.
In the past, there was a question whether an employee's work was an important activity of life. The focus of the regulations is whether a person is unable to perform a broad class of jobs because of deterioration. In a practical sense, this means that almost all conditions of the medication will result in a substantial limitation in the primary work activity and the employer will have a greater obligation to work with the employee to find reasonable accommodation.
Due to the broad definition in the legislation on disability word, the focus of future litigation in this area will be on whether the employer reasonably comply with its duty of reasonable accommodation, rather than if the employee has a disability.
Clearly the landscape has changed in this area.
Denice Gierach is a lawyer and owner of The Gierach Law Firm in Naperville. She is a certified public accountant and has a master’s degree in management. She may be reached at deniceg@gierachlawfirm.com. For more information on Denice and The Gierach Law Firm visit Gierach Law Firm.
