Human Resource
Management – Reasonable Accommodation
What is
“reasonable” in “reasonable accommodation?”
Read the following
case and discuss how you would handle this if you were the HR manager at this
particular construction company. What should the manager do?
ADA – Manager has
repeated seizures, requests employer provide transportation.
The EEOC issued an
interesting opinion letter involving a project manager involved in construction
who had repeated seizures and who requested the employer for assistance in
getting from the office to various construction sites. The first question was
the type of questions the employer is allowed to ask the employee’s physician
after the employee had experienced repeated seizures at work. The opinion
indicates that the employer was entitled to seek disability-related information
after the employee experienced a seizure while at work and that most of the
questions were permissible because they focused on the effect of the medical
condition and its symptoms on the employee’s ability to perform job
responsibilities. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an employer
may seek “disability-related” information from an employer, if the
inquiry is “job-related and consistent with business necessity.” Such
inquiries and medical examinations are “job-related and consistent with
business necessity,” the EEOC said, when an employer “has a
reasonable relief, based on objective evidence, that:
– an employee’s
ability to perform essential job functions will be impaired by a medical
condition; or
– an employee will
pose a “direct threat” due to a medical condition.
The purpose of this
standard is to require that employers have legitimate reasons for seeking
medical information while insuring their ability to obtain relevant information
necessary to make an informed employment decision. Given the circumstances, the
employer could reasonably believe that a seizure might impair the employee’s
ability to work and that there might be certain hazards in the work site that
could create a significant risk of substantial harm to the employee or others
if a seizure occurred.
The second question
pertained to the manager’s request that his employer provide assistance in
getting from the office to the construction sites. The employer’s response was
that a shuttle service was available but the manager said that the service
requires a minimum of one week’s advance notice and that he had to go to
construction sites on a short notice.
In your opinion, is
the employee asking for a “reasonable accommodation?” What would you
do as Human Resources manager?
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