Tag: disability

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What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate

employee communications

An employee suffers an injury that prevents her from operating a motor vehicle. With no means of transportation to travel to and from her workplace, the employee calls off work, believing that her absences were excused. They weren’t, and the employer fires her for excessive absences.

She sues, claiming disability discrimination, in part because of the company’s failure to accommodate her inability to drive.

n Hazelett v. Wal-Mart Stores, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the employee’s ADA claim should have survived summary judgment.

[I]t appears that Wal-Mart failed to participate in the interactive process required under the ADA.… Wal-Mart failed to provide Hazelett two requested accommodations: that she be given leave until July 17, 2015, in her FMLA Medical Certification when she would be released to drive, and two, an assignment to an alternative job to which she could commute.

What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate. Once an employer becomes aware of the need for a reasonable accommodation, the ADA obligates it to engage in an interactive process with the employee to identify and implement appropriate reasonable accommodations. That process requires communication and good-faith exploration of possible accommodations. An employer cannot dismiss, without discussion, accommodations. An employer cannot even rely on state workers’ comp laws or standards. The interactive process is mandatory, period.

Communication between an employer and a disabled employee is the key to avoiding problems under the ADA. Do not commit the cardinal ADA sin of failing to communicate. Talk with your employees. You’d be surprised how many problems you can head off with a simple conversation.

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A Fun Culture Isn’t Enough to Retain and Engage Top Talent

In today’s job market, companies are under pressure to not only attract top talent but retain it as well. The allure of flexible hours, unlimited time off and craft beer on tap may speak to the promise of a fun culture, but don’t hold much weight when an employee considers greener pastures.

Employee benefits programs  are a strong deciding factor when people consider staying with or leaving their company.  A recent study found that 78 percent of employees would be more likely to stay at their current job because of the benefits they receive. With benefits holding a priority position on employees’ pro and con checklists, it’s imperative for employers to offer coverage that is not only valuable but competitive in the marketplace.

Absence and disability programs are two primary areas of employee benefits that are undervalued in the U.S. workforce. Based on a survey of HR decision makers by The Standard, 23 percent of companies embrace a holistic approach to accommodating disabilities. Further, less than 33 percent of companies have embraced the need for family and medical leave that is more comprehensive than current laws permit. Based on these findings, it’s no surprise that only 1 in 4 employees see their employer as a leader in managing absence and disability. This poses an opportunity for companies to prove they are in touch with employee needs and offer benefits that are both valuable and competitive.

In particular, companies should consider accommodations for employee mental health conditions if they want to retain talent and increase job satisfaction. The rate of millennials experiencing a mental health condition continues to rise and conversations about employee burnout, anxiety and depression are becoming more prevalent. According to Pew Research Center, millennials make up the largest sector of the U.S. workforce with Gen Z following close behind. The impact of mental health in the workplace will only continue to grow as baby boomers and Gen X retire and exit the workforce. Millennials are more open about mental health conditions than any previous generation and expect their employers to both support them and provide realistic accommodations.

Companies are struggling with this shift. The Standard’s research found that 71 percent are not confident in managing employee mental health conditions. Moreover, 63 percent of organizations do not feel prepared to accommodate absence or disability related to behavioral health conditions. It’s time for companies to rethink their approach to employee mental health if they want to be viewed as positive places to work.

Organizations that are committed to improving their approach to behavioral health can incorporate a variety of tactics. First, company leaders can offer explicit support to employees experiencing mental health or substance abuse issues. Public communications, such as email campaigns and company-wide meetings, should aim to address and reduce the stigma around behavioral health conditions in the workplace. A strong wellness campaign backed by manager training on issues such as depression, anxiety and addiction can further bolster a strong behavioral health strategy.

In addition to a company culture that supports and responds to mental health and substance abuse needs, employers can search for a behavioral health benefits program that attracts and retains valuable talent. Organizations should consider implementing a formal wellness program that factors in “mental health days,” flexible work schedules, subsidized employee subscriptions for mental health, parental leave and other key benefits. While accommodating these needs is not always easy territory to navigate, employers who provide workers with the tools they need to address mental health and substance abuse will enjoy the benefits of employees who are far better equipped to meaningfully contribute to the company mission.

Offering absence and disability programs that accommodate behavioral health conditions while destigmatizing workplace discussions around mental health are key to the development and execution of a successful program. Behavioral health assessments can create open discussions about mental health in the workplace, but findings show that only 10 percent of companies are offering them. These assessments can help employees understand if they are likely to suffer from a mental health condition.

The U.S. workforce is undergoing a generational shift, and employers are trying to retain employees in a job market where many new opportunities abound. Companies that come out on top will do so by expanding and improving their employee benefits programs. At the end of the day, people stick with companies that value and support them through life’s ups and downs.

 

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Employers, Do Not Ignore Obvious Disability Accommodations

Jon Hyman The Practical Employer
All the way back in 2014,

An employee must ask for ADA accommodation to receive it.

That is, an employee must ask for an accommodation unless the employee’s need for an accommodation is so obvious that the employer cannot reasonably turn a blind eye toward it.

Case in point? Kowitz v. Trinity Health (8th Cir. 10/17/16).

Roberta Kowtiz worked for Trinity Health as a respiratory therapist and lead technician in its blood gas laboratory. She also suffered from cervical spinal stenosis, a degenerative spinal disease, for which she took a 12-week FMLA leave. She returned to work with restrictions that included max eight-hour shifts and no lifting more than 10 pounds. In the interim, Trinity updated the training requirements for Kowitz’s department to include renewed CPR training. Kowitz’s work limitations, however, prevented her from completing the training, a failure which resulted in her termination.

In her ensuing ADA lawsuit, the appellate court concluded that Kowitz’s failure to request a reasonable accommodation relative to the CPR training was not fatal to her ADA claim.

Though Kowitz did not ask for a reasonable accommodation of her condition in so many words, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to Kowitz, her notification to her supervisor that she would not be able to obtain the required certification until she had completed physical therapy implied that an accommodation would be required until then.

What is the key takeaway for employers? You cannot ignore what you know about an employee’s disability and the potential need for an accommodation. Instead of ignoring the employee, you must engage in the interactive process with that employee to determine the need for, and feasibility of, the accommodation, whether or not the employee actually requests it.
Jon Hyman is a partner at Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis in Cleveland. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com. Follow Hyman’s blog at Workforce.com/PracticalEmployer.
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Working Parents Finding Support for Their Special Needs Children

The number of children with disabilities has been climbing for more than a decade and that means that a growing number of employees are struggling to care for a child with special health care needs.

About 6 million children in the United States are considered disabled, according to a 2014 study in the Journal of Pediatrics — a 16 percent jump from a decade earlier. And about 1 in 20 employees are caring for a child with a disability or chronic illness, according to Family Voices, a national nonprofit advocacy group for special needs children.

In an effort to alleviate some of their burden, consulting firm Mercer and Rethink, a health technology firm, teamed up earlier this year to offer companies an online resource that features video-based treatment programs, tools to help parents manage behavioral problems, communicate better with school districts, and provides access to remote clinical consultations in addition to other supports.

“The motivation behind this was seeing the explosion in the prevalence of autism and other developmental disabilities,” said Mike Civello, vice president of employee benefits at New York-based Rethink. “One hears from the families and from the clients of Mercer how hard it is to support this population, whether it revolves around finding services or other support for the family. Looking at this increase in prevalence and the dearth of trained professionals to address these needs, whether in school, home or the health care arena, made it clear that something more was needed.”

While Rethink was launched in 2007 to help public school districts provide better support to students with developmental disabilities, awareness is growing among employers, in part because of recent state laws requiring insurers to cover certain autism therapies, he said.

“Employers are going to their benefits departments asking about this, so it’s really only in the last couple of years that we are seeing a desire on the part of employers to do something for employees with children that have special needs.”

The program focuses on developmental disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome, but Dr. David Kaplan, senior partner and leader of Mercer’s Health Innovation LABS, said that parents of children with any kind of physical or mental disabilities face similar challenges.

“Play dates become more complicated, there are issues with schools around accommodations, and there’s the need to take time off for treatments,” he said. “The general stress level for parents — whether a child has autism or another kind of disability — is the same.”

Kaplan said that these kinds of pressures often result in greater levels of anxiety and depression for parents, in addition to increased absenteeism and higher health care costs. Typically, employers rely on employee assistance providers to help parents, but according to Kaplan EAPs are not specifically trained to deal with issues surrounding disabled children.

According to the National Business Group on Health, nearly half of caregivers of children with special needs require more help managing stress and 40 percent of parents need help balancing work and family responsibilities. The NBGH found that parents of children with a disability lose around five hours of work weekly, totaling about 250 hours per year, which translates to an average of $3,000 to $5,000 per person in lost productivity for businesses.

In addition to making sure that benefit plans cover treatment for various disabilities, Kaplan said that employers could help alleviate some of the stress for parents of special needs children by creating a supportive workplace.

“It’s important to create an open and accepting atmosphere by talking about these issues so parents aren’t suffering in silence,” he said. “If you can create a situation where a parent can go to a doctor’s appointment without feeling condemned, that will make a huge difference for the family.”

Rita Pyrillis is a writer based in the Chicago area. Comment below or emaileditors@workforce.com. Follow Workforce on Twitter at @workforcenews.