Americans with Disabilities Act

This week marked the 20th anniversary of the US Government passing the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 gives protections to individuals with disabilities. These protections are similar to those provided on the basis of a person's race, color, sex, national origin, age and religion. ADA guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services and telecommunications.

As an employer, you must provide reasonable accommodations to your employees who are protected under ADA. You must engage in a good faith effort to find out what accommodations are required. While you are never allowed to ask if someone is disabled and requires accommodations, if an employee informs you that he or she is disabled, you are able to ask the employee for documentation about the disability, its functional limitations and the need for accommodation.

If you encounter this, a good first course of action is to contact your Human Resources department to find out if your company has any guidelines for handling ADA requirements. Also, discussing the situation with your legal counsel may be helpful in making sure you are complying with the law, and are getting the correct information.

When an employee requests accommodation, the employer can generally ask the employee to confirm the need for accommodation with a note from the employee's health care provider. The employee is obligated to cooperate in good faith with this request. Alternatively, upon the employee's consent, the employer may directly communicate with the health care provider to find out the nature of the disability and the accommodations that would allow the employee to continue working. Forms are available that you can provide to the employee and to their health care provider. The information on these forms can allow you to make modifications and accommodations to allow them to continue their employment with your company and ensure that you are complying with ADA.

If you have questions, or need assistance with ADA accommodations, please contact me. An excellent resource for ADA is Barbara Cotter, Attorney, Cook Brown LLP, www.cookbrown.com. Barbara specializes in employment law and understands the employer's responsibilities of ADA.