Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Timothy F. Murphy This week, to review what has and hasn’t changed under the amended Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we’re taking a look at a disability discrimination cases that deals with essential job functions and reasonable accommodation. Determining the truly essential functions of a job is often at the heart of a disability […]
Have you ever tried to discipline an employee for workplace misconduct only to hear for the first time that his disability caused the misconduct? Did you then wonder how you should proceed? If that has ever happened to you, then the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) recent guidance, “The Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA]: Applying […]
by Tony Puckett Recently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidance on religious discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It also issued two other sets of materials addressing religious discrimination: “Questions and Answers: Religious Discrimination in the Workplace” and “Best Practices for Eradicating Religious Discrimination in the Workplace.” […]
(Updated Dec. 30, 2009) Q. We have an employee who works as an administrative assistant. She was recently in a car accident and injured her arm, hand, and wrist. Her main job duty is to transcribe documents. That often requires her to type for hours at a time. She also is responsible for taking handwritten […]
by Stuart R. Buttrick Although the types of misconduct that employees can engage in is unlimited, some disciplinary issues occur over and over again. Among the most common — and difficult — issues for employers to handle are drug and alcohol use, insubordination, and workplace searches of company or employee property. This article will offer […]
(Updated August 2009) by Sarah Fuson With Thanksgiving less than a week away, thoughts turn to turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. But Thanksgiving represents more than stuffing ourselves silly and watching football all day. The first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 by the Pilgrims, a group of Puritans who fled England because […]
We have a strict seniority system. Do we have to bump one of our workers to give another employee a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act? — Anonymous How To Survive an Employee Lawsuit: 10 Tips for Success With lawsuits against employers becoming ever more common—and jury verdicts skyrocketing—your risk of getting […]
by Amy M. McLaughlin The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently determined that a job applicant presented enough disputed information for his age discrimination case to be submitted to a jury, rather than dismissed. The applicant claimed that the individuals who interviewed him had an age bias against him and preferred the younger applicants. […]
If a disabled employee needs an accommodation so he or she can continue to perform the job, you don’t have to provide any accommodation that would be an undue hardship for you. Generally, undue hardship means that providing the reasonable accommodation would result in significant difficulty or expense, based on your resources and the operation […]
Many employers have discovered that successful telework arrangements can provide high levels of flexibility and employee satisfaction. And, as a new fact sheet from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission points out, you may be required to consider telework as a reasonable accommodation for disabled employees. Modifying Telework Programs The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) […]