With the current COVID-19 outbreak, many organizations have moved their employees to a remote work environment, and as such, they can consider suspending their ergonomic equipment policy or implement a temporary policy given the unprecedented nature of the situation.

Under normal circumstances, employers should not default to the ergonomic policy. Deferring to the policy is insufficient to satisfy the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The employer is shutting down the ADA request before attempting to engage, and just because the employee is remote, it does not change the employer’s obligation to review and respond to an ADA request, absent undue hardship. We recommend that the employer goes through the same ADA interactive process as they would with any other employee to determine if the individual has a disability and determine if an accommodations can be made.