Employment Law
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Finding a reasonable accommodation is a two-way street. Both the employer and the disabled employee are supposed to engage in the ADA’s interactive accommodations process. But part of that interactive process includes determining whether the employee is, in fact, disabled. If he’s not, the process need go no further.
Employers, not disabled employees, have the right to decide which reasonable accommodation will be used. As long as the accommodation works and the employee is able to perform her job with it, no additional help is due.
Dealing with the multitude of federal and state laws governing leaves of absence in California can leave employers feeling lost and disoriented—and expose even the most well-intentioned employer to liability. The best prevention is education.
Employers that miss a workers’ compensation premium payment may apply for a one-time waiver of penalties under Gov. John Kasich’s “Common Sense Initiative.”
Supervisors don’t have crystal balls that help them tell the future or read employees’ minds. Unless an employee expresses an interest in being promoted, they don’t have to consider him for open positions.
Employees and their lawyers are getting more creative with their lawsuits. Not content to rely on federal anti-discrimination laws, they add claims under state law, too. That increases their chances of making a claim stick.
The Court of Appeal of California has handed a significant victory to employers that use arbitration agreements as a condition of employment. As long as the underlying terms of the agreement are fair and the arbitration process impartial, the court will send a case to arbitration even if the employee had no choice but to sign the agreement.
Q. Can you tell us how the recent amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act affects employers?
Over the past couple of decades, there has been much debate over whether arbitration agreements can successfully prevent employees from asserting discrimination and other employment-related claims in court. Arbitration is seen as a risk-limiting tactic because juries are removed from the equation. Lost in this debate, however, is a simpler and perhaps more reliable means of managing an employer’s risk: a jury waiver.
Do you worry that encouraging someone to retire when he’s facing disciplinary action could backfire? Relax. In most circumstances, a voluntary retirement that isn’t pressured or forced because of a threat of imminent discharge isn’t considered a constructive discharge.
