What are some tips for complying with the legal requirements of the ADA?

As the number of lawsuits citing violations of the ADA continues to rise, employers need to be aware of their legal responsibilities to employees. Pepper Hamilton LLP provides the following six tips for complying with the legal requirements of the ADA:

1. Inform employees of the ADA's guidelines. Although employers are under no legal obligation to outline the basic components of the ADA, it would be in their best interest to mention the parameters of the ADA in the employee handbook. This can be especially advantageous to employers if they are ever faced with a claim of failure to accommodate because the handbook puts the employees on notice of the obligation to tell the employer what they need.

2. Establish an open-door policy. Employees are responsible for notifying their employers if they need accommodations under the ADA. But they often neglect to do this until it is too late. Many times, employers remain unaware that an employee needed an accommodation until after the worker has left the company and filed a lawsuit. Employees often fail to make their needs known because they don't want to make waves or are concerned about their jobs.

3. Engage in an interactive process with employees. Once an employee gives either written or verbal notice that a disability exists, the employer and worker must collaborate to reach an acceptable solution. This is a vital step that can determine whether or not the employee will pursue litigation and ultimately be successful.

4. Solutions must be workable for both employer and employee. Occasionally, an employee's medical condition will require limitations on his or her work hours or job duties. But their requests for special accommodations must be reasonable, and not create an undue hardship for employers. Remember that employees do not get to dictate the accommodation they want. The accommodation has to allow them to perform the essential functions of the job, which may include the ability to work any shift. If the employee can't do that, the workable accommodation may be to reassign the employee to a different job. The solution in any particular situation really depends on the employee's limitations, what are truly the essential duties of the employee's job and the nature and size of the employer's business.

5. Be aware of continuing obligations. The duty to accommodate doesn't end when an accommodation is provided. If either the worker or the company conclude at some point that the accommodation is no longer effective or workable, then they need to resume the interactive process.

6. Be consistent. Accommodations made for those with medical disabilities must be uniformly applied without favoritism. An employee who is denied an accommodation should not be able to point to someone in a similar situation who was granted an accommodation.