We get questions…
An employer called with this inquiry: “one of our employees has been on leave under The Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for a serious health condition and the 12 weeks have expired. The employee has not …
Category Archives: Disability
Subscribe to Disability RSS FeedLight Duty Assignments And The Disabled Employee
Posted in Disability, Discrimination, Public Safety IssuesCourts have held that generally employees are not obligated to make a temporary assignment permanent where an employee requests reasonable accommodation because of a disability. This falls in line with the idea that employers are not expected to create as …
Public Agencies Must Comply With New Federal Laws Regarding Service Animals
Posted in Disability
This guest post was authored by Heather DeBlanc
The American Disabilities Act (ADA) used to allow any animal to qualify as a “service animal” as long as it was trained to do a task for an individual with a disability. …
Drug Use And The ADA – A Flexible Approach Prevails
Posted in Disability, DiscriminationThis guest post was authored by Oliver Yee
Employee substance abuse poses significant challenges for employers. At what point in time is a drug user no longer a user? Certainly, given the complexities surrounding drug use, addiction and recovery, this …
Employers May Distinguish Between Threats Of Violence As Grounds For Discipline And The Disability Which Causes The Misconduct
Posted in Disability, DiscriminationFor the first time, a California court has held that, under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), an employer may distinguish between disability-caused misconduct and the disability itself in the narrow context of threats or violence against coworkers.
In …
Smokers Need Not Apply: Good Idea Or Illegal?
Posted in Disability, Discrimination, Privacy, Workplace Policies
Hospitals and other medical-related employers are at the forefront of a growing trend of employers who have adopted policies prohibiting the hiring of smokers. This practice goes far beyond merely banning employees from smoking in the workplace. Rather, these employers …
One-Strike Rule For Pre-Employment Drug Testing: Harsh Consequences Or Disability Discrimination?
Posted in Disability, DiscriminationThis guest post was authored by Alison Carrinski
Substance abuse by employees costs public agencies billions of dollars each year and results in increased absenteeism, injuries on the job, and health care costs. Pre-employment drug testing is one way for …
Common Sense Prevails – An Employer Is Not Required To Rehire A Disability Retiree Who Is Medically Cleared To Return To Work
Posted in Disability, Discrimination, RetirementThis guest post was authored by Judith Islas
Does an employee who retired because of disability, but is now medically cleared to return to work, have the right to get his old job back? And, does the employer have an …
A Disabled Employee Cannot Be Reasonably Accommodated: What Happens Next?
Posted in Disability
Public agencies are becoming more and more compliant with the obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California Fair Employment & Housing Act (FEHA) in conducting the interactive process dialogue with disabled employees to seek reasonable accommodation which …
From NBOA To NAIS Conference – LCW’s Update From The East Coast
Posted in Conferences, Disability, Layoffs, Liebert Cassidy WhitmoreThis guest post was authored by Cynthia Weldon, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
Thank you to the organizers and attendees of the annual NBOA Symposium which ended Wednesday, February 23, in Washington D.C. It was gratifying to see so many schools represented …