ADA Leave: The Six Things You Need to Be Doing

Tasha PattersonCompliance Conference

ADA Leave: The Six Things You Need to Be Doing

The FMLA Still Confounding EmployersBy Matt Morris, JD

VP of FMLASource
ComPsych

Last year, like every year since the introduction of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the EEOC conducted a record number of ADA-related lawsuits.

Employers are well-versed in the need to review their leave management program for compliance under the ADA. The challenge, however, lies in knowing how to perform that review effectively. In my session with EEOC trial attorney Rich Mrizek on this topic at the 2019 DMEC FMLA/ADA Employer Compliance Conference, May 6-9 in Portland, OR, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to do just that. Our not-too-subtly titled session, ADA Leave: The Six Things You Need to Be Doing, will send you back to your organization with the tools to make impactful updates to your processes and help to ensure compliance under the ADA.

There are a number of questions you need to be considering when an employee requests leave, such as:

  • Is reassignment to another job a viable option? If so, do you know how to analyze such a request?
  • What about working from home as an alternative to leave? Is that reasonable?
  • What if the employee is a manager? Does she need to be present in the office full time?
  • Is working in the office an essential function? And just how does an employer determine essential functions?
  • And finally, what constitutes an effective interactive process . . .or at least, a defensible one?

Our answers to these questions will reflect recent court decisions and the EEOC’s own consent decrees that outline what things they think you should do to create an effective and compliant program.

Whether you’re new to the ADA or a seasoned professional, this session will provide valuable insight to get your program up to speed. We will also touch on the “six things you’re probably already doing, but let’s just run through them quickly just in case, ok?”

If these issues resonate with you, then plan to join our session at the 2019 DMEC FMLA/ADA Employer Compliance Conference. We look forward to seeing you in May!