Many of our clients have had questions regarding their duty to consider an employee’s request for reasonable accommodations in connection with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It is worth revisiting some things that employers should keep in mind.
- First, your managers and supervisors need to be trained so that they recognize when an employee might be asking for an accommodation, even when they are not using that word.
- In any employment situation, but most particularly when you speak with an employee about their request for a reasonable accommodation, you should memorialize that conversation in a memorandum for record (MFR), and should consider sending it to the employee at the time it is prepared, so that the employee can make any necessary changes. It is better to do that contemporaneously than trying to do it later after the employee files some sort of legal action against you, their employer.
- Even if what your employee requests is an unreasonable accommodation, it may not be advisable for you, the employer, simply to say “no” and cut off any further discussion. Rather, it may be wiser, even if the requested accommodation is unreasonable, to continue the discussion seeking some other accommodation that might be reasonable.
- The interactive process should be engaged in by an employer representative who is knowledgeable in this area, as opposed to the employee’s immediate supervisor who may not have the knowledge base.
- Keep in mind that what may be a reasonable accommodation at this time, may not be reasonable in the future because your employee’s medical condition may change.
- It is unwise for an employer to ever go into this process with any pre-conceived notions. Rather, you need to make it clear that every case is different, and that you are open to listening to the employee.
- Finally, and perhaps most importantly, contact your attorney for advice each time before you engage in the interactive process.
The Eastern Pennsylvania Employment Log (EPELog) is a publication of the KingSpry Employment Law Practice Group. Jeffrey T. Tucker, Esquire, is our editor-in-chief. EPELog is meant to be informational and does not constitute legal advice.
