Reasonable Accommodations
Once an employer has been made aware of a disability, they are required to make reasonable accommodations for the employee unless the accommodation would cause undue hardship on the employer, such as significant difficulty in operations or an unreasonable expense.
Using the example above, letting someone eat every two hours to keep their blood sugar up does not cause undue hardship. The rest of the crew can either continue to complete the job or wait a few minutes for the person to eat a snack. This accommodation does not cause difficulty for the job to be completed, nor does it accrue a large cost. If a person were to ask for four half-hours, paid breaks each day, that could lead to a large cost for the employer and could lead to tasks taking much longer.
Qualified Person with a Disability
For a worker to be protected by anti-discrimination laws, they must be a qualified person with a disability. In order to qualify, a worker must have a record of disability or be regarded as having a disability. In other words, there must be documented proof that the person has the disability to begin with, such as medical records. By definition, a disability includes mental or physical impairment that causes one or more limitations in major life activities. Under this definition, diabetes is protected due to the limited function of the endocrine system.
After establishing the disability exists, the person must prove they are qualified for the position. Legally, a qualified worker is a person who has all of the skills, education requirements, experience, and other job-related qualifications of a position. Further, the worker must be able to perform all essential functions of the position with reasonable accommodation.
For instance, a person with diabetes with over five years of experience should have the same opportunity for employment as someone without diabetes that also has five years of experience. However, if someone who does not have diabetes has twice the experience as the person with diabetes, the worker without diabetes being given the job does not qualify as discrimination.
Derek Smith
3 min. read
Derek Smith