Leading Practices in Disability Services The Impact on the Workplace

Leading Practices in Disability ServicesThe Impact on the Workplace Peggy Hayeslip, Associate Director for Disability Services Office of Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action Programs Gordon Dean, HRIS ManagerHuman Resource Information Systems March 24, 2004

Agenda • Law • Definitions • Documentation • EEOC Guidelines for Identifying a Disability and Receiving Reasonable Accommodations • EEOC Guidelines for the Hiring Process, Pre-Hiring Interviewing • Enforcement • JHU Protocol • Disability Services

Law • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability shall, solely by reason of his/her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity or a public entity.”

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 • Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability against qualified people with disabilities. • Employers must provide reasonable accommodations if doing so would enable an individual to perform their jobs unless reasonable accommodation creates an undue hardship on the University. • Employers must go to the same length for all company employees (i.e. full-time, part-time, temporary, probationary, etc.).

Definitions • Disabled • Reasonable Accommodations • Undue Hardship • Documentation

Disabled An individual with a physical or mental impairment that “substantially limits” a “major life activity.” i.e. walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, learning, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, working

Disabilities • Low Vision/Blindness • Hearing Impairments/ Deafness • Specific Learning Disabilities • Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder • Mobility Impairments • Health Impairments • Psychiatric Impairments

Reasonable Accommodation • “Effective” alterations in the work flow or structure of the job that permits an employee with a disability to reach the same performance and productivity standards as non-disabled employees. • A reasonable accommodation is any change or adjustment to a job or work environment that permits a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to participate in the job application process, to perform the essential functions of a job, or to enjoy benefits and privileges of employment equal to those enjoyed by employees without disabilities. For example, a reasonable accommodation may include: • Assistive devices or equipment • Part-time or modified work schedules • Reassignment to a vacant position • Modification of examinations, training materials, or policies • Readers and interpreters • Restructuring jobs • Modification of worksite • Adjustable work schedules

Steps in Reasonable Accommodation • Individual identifies to the University • Individual is apprised of resources such as Occupational Health, Health and Safety, Disability Services and Human Resources • Identify barriers to equal employment opportunities including distinguishing between essential and non-essential job tasks; obtain input from the individual with the disability regarding their limitations to perform the essential tasks; with the supervisor/employer determine those job tasks that limit the individual’s ability to effectively perform job. • Identify possible methods of accommodation, beginning with consulting the individual with a disability, and other resources familiar with the needs of individuals with a particular disability. • Assess the reasonableness and feasibility of the proposed accommodations, including cost, reliability, whether it can be provided in a timely manner, and whether it will assist the individual to perform at an acceptable standard of performance. 6.) Determine whether the most appropriate accommodations for the employee would create an “undue hardship” on the University.

Accommodations for the Workplace • Individual space/office • Separation from distractions • Modification of job demands • Written instructions • Tasks broken down into smaller segments • Written Deadlines • Assistance with organization of work area and job requirements • Note taking services for meetings • One project at a time • Assistive technology such as voice output, grammar or spell check • Flexibility with hours

Undue Hardship • Employer must show burden of proof with objective evidence. • Depends on factors like: • Type and cost of accommodation • Employer’s financial resources and organization’s size • Effect of accommodation on the structure of the operations.

EEOC Guidelines • Employer’s rights • Employees responsibilities

Employer’s Rights • Do not have to eliminate essential job functions (i.e. fundamental duties of the job). • Do not need to lower productivity standards. • Must request “relevant only” documentation supporting disability, functional limitations and need for accommodation. • Can deny request for improper documentation. • Determines reasonable, effective accommodation.

Employee’s Responsibilities • Must perform job. • Must adhere to standards of conduct. • Must inform employers of need. • Must provide supporting “relevant only” documentation.

Pre-Hire Compliance with Title I of the ADA • Before a job is advertised or posted, review the job requirements and add a description of essential functions to the job description. • Add organizations that serve clients with disabilities to recruiting and advertising sources. • Review recruitment materials so that they include positive references to persons with disabilities and cite the organization’s equal employment policy. • Review the application form and eliminate questions that ask applicants to state any disabilities. Ensure the form is accessible. • Review tests for job relatedness and business necessity. Ensure the assessments are accessible. • Ensure that interviews are conducted in accessible locations or ask, when interviews are scheduled, if applicants need accommodations.

The InterviewPreparation • Arrange the setting of the interview area to be as comfortable and informal as possible, making certain that the location is accessible for applicants with disabilities. • Provide the applicant with information regarding the physical layout or work environment. • Review the essential functions of the position, referring to the written job description. • Review the EEO considerations which affect the interviewing process. • Make arrangements not to be interrupted while the interview is underway. • Arrange for any accommodations the interviewee may need such as an interpreter for an applicant who is hard of hearing or an accessible room for a wheelchair user.

The Interview Guidelines • DO ASK: • Job-related questions about the essential functions of the job; • How the applicant will perform specific job functions; • Ask this only if you ask it of everyone applying for a job in this categoryregardless of disability. • If an applicant has a visible or known disability, you can ask this question of him or her without asking it of everyone else. • The applicant to demonstrate how with or without reasonable accommodation, the applicant will perform the job-related functions of the job - ask this only if the applicant has a visible or know disability; and • Whether the applicant can meet specific requirements of the job such as work hours, leave policies and special attendance requirements.

The Interview Guidelinescont… DO NOT ASK: • Have you ever had or been treated for any of the following conditions or diseases? (followed by a checklist of various conditions and diseases.) • List what conditions or diseases have you been treated for in the past 3 years? • What is the nature of your disability? • How severe is your disability? • What caused your disability? • What is the prognosis regarding your disability? • Will you need treatment or special leave because of the disability

The Interview Guidelinescont… • Have you ever been hospitalized? If so, for what condition? • Have you ever been treated by a psychiatrist or psychologist? • Have you ever been treated for any mental condition? • Is there any health-related reason you may not be able to perform the job for which you are applying? • Have you ever had a major illness in the last 5 years? • How many days were you absent from work because of illness last year? • Do you have any physical defects which preclude you from performing certain kinds of work? How do these defects limit your work? • Are you taking any prescribed drugs? • Have you ever been treated for drug addiction or alcoholism? • Have you ever filed for workers’ compensation insurance?

The Job Offer Before making a job offer, an employer • Mayask questions about an applicant’s ability to perform specific job functions; • May not inquire about a disability; • May make a job offer conditioned on the satisfactory results of a post offer medical examination or inquiry. Subsequent to a conditioned job offer, an employer • Mayconduct a medical examination • May ask health-related questions.

Attitudinal Barriers Interact with a person with a disability in the same manner in which you interact with someone who does not have a disability. • Maintain eye contact. • Engage in natural conversation. • Talk directly to the person. • When talking with a person who is in a wheelchair or who has crutches, NEVER lean on or touch assistive devices. • When talking with a person who has a visual impairment, describe things specifically.

Attitudinal Barrierscont… • Ask persons what words you can or cannot use to describe them. • Be especially patient when talking with persons with speech impairments. • Generally use a normal conversational tone. • Use conventional conversational words and phrases that are appropriate to your background as well as to the subject. • Do not ask a person when or how they became disabled. • If you do not understand what a person is saying, ask them to repeat it. • When you make a mistake, apologize for your error and return to being natural.

Summary of Legal Obligations in the Hiring Process (Title 1) • An employer must provide an equal opportunity for an individual with a disability to participate in the job application process and to be considered for a job. • An employer may not make any pre-employment inquiries regarding disability, but may ask questions about the ability to perform specific job functions and may, with certain limitations, ask an individual with a disability to describe or demonstrate how he or she would perform these functions. • An employer may not require pre-employment medical examinations or medical histories, but may condition a job offer on the results of a post-offer medical examination, if all entering employees in the same job category are required to take this examination.

Summary of Legal Obligations in the Hiring Process (Title 1) cont… • An employer may give tests for illegal drugs at any time. Such tests are not medical examinations under the ADA. • An employer may use tests that screen out a person with a disability on the basis of that disability only if job-related and consistent with business necessity. • An employer may use tests that reflect the skills and aptitudes of an individual if those tests are designed to measure job-related skills; tests should not measure unrelated impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills.

JHU Protocol • Employee requests accommodation usually of employer. • Employee meets with Occupational Health, FASAP or Office of Disability Services. • Documentation is obtained and analyzed. • Job analysis is collected from HR. • Occupational Health, Health and Safety or Office of Disability Services, supervisor and employee determine effective accommodation.

Disability Services Current Committees • Disability Advisory • Physical Access • Disability Student Coordinators • Human Resources Disability Advisory • Web Access

Leading Practices in Disability Services The Impact on the Workplace