If you go through your day without any physical or neurological symptoms bothering you for an extended period, consider yourself lucky and probably young. Only the healthiest people do not have any conditions that require periodic follow-up with healthcare providers. The percentage of American adults who take at least one prescription medication every day is 70%; that is even higher than the percentage of American adults who live paycheck to paycheck. In today’s economy, you are grateful to have a job, even if it makes your symptoms worse, and sometimes you worry that, if your health conditions affect your job performance, your employer will take adverse actions against you, perhaps even terminating your employment.
You are so worried about being able to pay the bills the next time they come due that you would not dare to complain about your symptoms at work, but you have the right to do so. Even if you do not think of yourself as disabled, since you are still healthy enough to work, your condition may qualify as a disability eligible for reasonable accommodations under federal employment laws. The Bozeman disability and reasonable accommodations lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP can help you request reasonable accommodations for your disability and exercise your rights if your employer denies your request for accommodations.
Disabilities Do Not Always Prevent You From Working
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) set the legal groundwork for ensuring that employers cannot exclude employees with disabilities from the workforce based on their disabilities. Since then, subsequent legislation has refined the definition of disabilities and outlined the rights that employees and job seekers with disabilities possess. A disability is any medical condition that interferes with your ability to perform routine daily tasks. The disability may or may not be visible to people who have just met you, or even those who have interacted with you over a long period of time. It might be a health condition that you have lived with your whole life or one that resulted from an injury, an infectious disease, cancer, or an autoimmune disease. Not all disabilities are permanent; some resolve on their own or as a result of medical treatment.
Regardless of whether your disability is temporary or permanent, visible or invisible, it is a protected characteristic pursuant to federal and state employment laws. A protected characteristic is a personal attribute based on which employers are not allowed to discriminate against employees or job applicants. This means that your employer cannot use your disability as a reason not to hire you, to deny you a promotion or a raise, or to terminate your employment, among other possible adverse actions.
What Counts as a Reasonable Accommodation?
People with disabilities have the right to receive reasonable accommodations in the workplace. You are qualified for a job if you can do the essential functions of the job; for example, the essential functions of the job are knowing the laws relevant to your practice area, advising clients about them, preparing legal documents for clients, and attending court appearances where you represent your client. Being able to walk from the parking lot of the building to your office or from the parking lot of the courthouse is not an essential function, and the fact that you use a wheelchair does not make you less qualified for the job. Therefore, it is your employer’s responsibility to ensure that your office and your desk are wheelchair accessible. Conversely, a certain state of physical health might be a job requirement. For example, you cannot fulfill the essential functions of your job as a lifeguard if you have low vision, and employers who are hiring lifeguards may conduct vision tests as part of the job screening process.
Of course, there are as many types of reasonable accommodations as there are occupations and disabilities. The accommodation might be a modification to the work environment, the work schedule, or the conduct required of the worker, other than the essential job functions. For example, if you are able to walk without assistance for short distances but have limited mobility because of an injury, a reasonable accommodation would be for you to sit in a chair at the cash register, even if your employer’s policy is for cashiers to stand throughout their shifts.
Requesting Reasonable Accommodations for a Disability is a Legally Protected Activity
It is against the law for your employer to take an adverse action against you, such as firing you, demoting you, or negatively evaluating your performance, simply because you requested an accommodation for a disability. When you request a disability accommodation, bring your employer a letter from your doctor, stating that you have a diagnosed disability and describing the kinds of accommodations that you require. The accommodation request letter does not specify your diagnosis or otherwise disclose any confidential information about you that is protected by medical privacy laws.
Your employer does not have to follow your requests to the letter. An accommodation is reasonable if it does not place an unfair financial burden on the employer. No one expects a mail-order candy business that operates out of the owner’s house to build a wheelchair accessible entrance for one of the company’s three employees. The more employees the company has, and the greater its revenues, the more resources it has to make accommodations for its employees with disabilities. If the employer is unable to make the first accommodation the employee requests, it should provide a counteroffer with the accommodations it can make, and the parties should negotiate until they arrive at aan ccommodation that is feasible for both the employer and the employee.
Contact HKM Employment Attorneys LLP, About Disability and Reasonable Accommodations
The Bozeman employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys LLP, can give you advice about requesting reasonable accommodations for a disability and, if appropriate, filing a complaint if your employer retaliated against you for requesting the accommodations. Tell the employment lawyers about your case in Bozeman, Montana, to set up a consultation.
