One of the first things you worry about when you're facing an illness or injury is what will happen to your job. Will you have a job to go back to, and will you still be able to do your job after a health-related absence? People often forget that it's more likely that they'll face disability than sudden accidental death. It's a double blow to have to worry about your job and your health at the same time. Make sure you're aware of the protection and relief offered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

ADA Offers Protection if You Become Disabled

The ADA protects workers against disability discrimination. Compared to an average person, disabled persons might be impaired in "major life activities," but can perform in their jobs if employers make reasonable accommodations regarding a disability. Employers are bound by the duty to make reasonable accommodations unless it poses an "undue hardship."

However, many courts gave a narrow reading to the ADA, and many disabled people weren't protected by the law as intended. Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) to address problems with ADA enforcement. Key changes under the ADAAA include:

  • Stressing that the term "disability" has a broad meaning. It should be easier to show that you have a disability
  • Expansion of the definition of major life activities, which includes major bodily functions. Activities cited in the law include reading, bending and communicating
  • Providing that "disability" includes impairments that are episodic or in remission if when active, a major life activity is substantially limited
  • Beneficial or mitigating measures aren't factored in when determining if a person has a disability. This means that your condition is considered without regard to treatments or actions you take to improve it, such as medication or lifestyle changes. Using normal eyeglasses or contacts is excluded from beneficial measures. This means that ordinary uncorrected vision can't be claimed as a disability

The ADAAA changed the burden of proof someone needs to meet when claiming discrimination. You need to show that you were terminated or weren't hired due to disability. Formerly, claimants had to prove that employers perceived them as disabled with regard to a major life activity.

The ADAAA took effect January 1, 2009, with regulations to follow. These changes should benefit people with conditions such as epilepsy, mental illness and diabetes.

How to Get Help under the ADA

The duty to abide by the ADA exists only if your employer is aware of your needs. If so, it has to provide you with reasonable accommodations, essentially changes or adjustments in your workplace. The accommodation enables you to do your job, or enjoy the work environment as other employees do. Access to break rooms or restrooms are good examples. Exceptions exist when an employer can prove that assistance amounts to undue hardship, which means that changes are too difficult or expensive.

Tell your employer what your needs will be to resume working. Keep in mind that the solution need not be expensive or complicated. Your employer may well welcome your solution. Part of avoiding liability under the ADA is acting in good faith when working with an employee to meet his needs.

Reasonable accommodation can include:

  • Altering or providing equipment or devices
  • Restructuring a job
  • Schedule changes
  • Making a workplace readily accessible
  • Modifying training materials or policies
  • Reassigning you to an open position
  • Providing readers or interpreters

Solutions can be straightforward. Common sense may be all that's needed. It's important that your employer knows that you can still do your job. Many forms of reasonable accommodation cost less and take much less effort to implement that replacing you. Ergonomic office furniture, providing office equipment to meet your vision or hearing needs, or even electric versions of supplies like staplers and pencil sharpeners may be all you need to get back to work.

Questions for Your Attorney

  • I have a neurological disease, and my employer's been very helpful in meeting my ADA requests. The problem is that my co-workers don't know about my illness and they question what they view as the "special treatment" I receive. They're starting to give my boss a hard time. How should I balance my privacy and office politics?
  • If my employer agrees to alter my schedule as a reasonable accommodation, how do wage and hour laws factor in, especially if I'm an hourly worker?
  • At what level can my employer claim that measures to help me are an "undue hardship," and is the answer different in every case?