Recently in HR Dive, Kansas City partner Kim Seten offers tips for employers to stay on the right track when it comes to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Claims made under the ADA have tripled in recent years, making it essential for employers to ensure that their business practices live up to 2019 scrutiny.
The primary step for preparing an inclusive work environment is to create clear employee handbook policies that instruct employees to inform HR when they require accommodations to perform their essential job functions. This handbook should also state that the company does and will not retaliate against an employee requesting accommodations.
It’s critical to train front-line managers and supervisors – members of management who have day-to-day contact with employees – on recognizing that an employee is asking for accommodation and what to do, according to Kim. Often, supervisors and managers lack proper training in the ADA and won’t know what to do when their employee encounters an ADA-triggering situation, encouraging HR to take charge up the matter so it can engage in the interactive process properly and promptly.
An interactive process is important to show that the employer makes an effort to engage with the employee requesting accommodation, and it can show the employer made a “good-faith effort” whether or not the employee engaged. However, she cautions that employers who are responsible for ending the process too early could be implicated in an ADA violation. HR should be trained on the components of a good, interactive process.
The full article is available here.