Overtime and the ADA: Schedule Change, Maybe; Eliminate Essential Function, No

By Marti Cardi, JD

VP Product Compliance
Matrix Absence Management

Can a no-overtime restriction be a reasonable accommodation for an employee with a disability? Yes, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which states that an employer must provide a modified or part-time schedule when required as a reasonable accommodation, absent undue hardship, even if the employer does not provide such schedules for other employees.¹

Focus on Essential Functions

The next question becomes, are employees with no-overtime restrictions still able to perform the essential functions of their position? An employer does not have to eliminate an essential job function as part of or as a result of an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This is because a person with a disability who is unable to perform the essential functions, with or without reasonable accommodation, is not a “qualified” individual with a disability under the ADA.

Nor is an employer required to lower qualitative or quantitative production standards that are applied uniformly to employees with and without disabilities. However, an employer may have to provide a reasonable accommodation to enable an employee with a disability to meet the standard.²

Consider Robert, one of many employees working nine-hour shifts, five days per week processing online catalog orders for a clothing retailer. These employees are not tasked with completing a designated number of orders per day. Robert develops migraine headaches, and his physician states that Robert cannot work more than seven hours per day because looking at the computer screen for a longer time can cause the onset of or exacerbate a migraine.

Is Robert entitled to this schedule change as an ADA reasonable accommodation? Probably, because the employer has not set a quantity of orders Robert must process during his shift, so his no-overtime schedule does not cause him to fail to perform an essential function.

Now consider Maria, who works in a call center for a furniture retailer that assigns its order processers to handle specific lines of business, such as sofas, mattresses, office furniture, and so on. The processors must have a detailed knowledge of the furniture items in their assigned line. Shifts start at 8:00 am, and workers are usually finished by 5:00 pm.: however, the job description requires them to stay on duty until all orders received by 3:00 pm. that day in their product line have been processed, which occasionally may be as late as 7:00 pm. Maria has carpal tunnel mostly controlled by ergonomic aids, but her condition has worsened, and her physician restricts her to working no more than eight hours per day. This added accommodation, if granted, would mean that Maria is unable to perform an essential function of her job: completing all orders received by 3:00 pm. in her product line each day.

Is Maria entitled to this schedule change as a reasonable ADA accommodation? Probably not. Based on essential functions of her position stated in the written job description and the employer’s practice of strictly enforcing the work-to-completion rule, a reduced schedule would mean that Maria is no longer performing one of her essential functions. Her employer will need to consider other possible accommodations and possible reassignment to a different position, but it does not have to eliminate the essential function of working until all orders are processed.

References

1. EEOC Enforcement Guidance: Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the Americans with Disabilities Act at question 22. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/accommodation.html (“Guidance”).
2. EEOC Enforcement Guidance cited above, see the “General Principles” section.