Can you believe it is July already? We are in the height of summer and what better time to review requests for accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act?
As every HR person knows, the federal government (and many states) take a broad view of the definition of an employee. So that college student you hired for 6 weeks? She is an employee and can request accommodation for a disability. In this case*, a high school student was terminated after he had a seizure and requested accommodation. The employer completely ignored his request. It cost them $70 grand. The takeaway: lean on the interactive process. Do not skip that step. You do not have to provide the requested accommodation–or any accommodation–if it would cause an undue hardship. Remember the interactive process when you receive a request for accommodation from any employee–full-time, part-time, seasonal, probationary, hourly.
Questions about who is an employee? Or how to best navigate the interactive process? We can help.
* Shout out to Eric D. Meyer’s Employer Handbook blog for highlighting this case