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Practical strategies for handling the real-world situations you’re likely to face.
At some point in almost everyone's working life, there is a time when you must ask an employer for a workplace accommodation like a leave of absence. The request may be related to pregnancy, your own illness, injury, disability or a life situation such as caring for a sick child or family member. Accommodations and leaves are governed by host of federal and state laws, and can be a minefield for employers to navigate. The recent case of Young v. UPS shows, if nothing else, that confusion still exists about the scope and reach of the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) and what employers must do for pregnant workers who request an accommodation.
Scope, reach, coverage and hardship issues are present in all accommodation/leave requests. What should an employer's policies be, what should be covered, who is covered, what is reasonable, who qualifies and for how long are types of accommodation/leave questions that employment lawyers field on a daily basis. As the Young case demonstrates, the governing laws can be perplexing and the answers aren't always abundantly clear. (A pregnant woman's request to temporarily put a weight limit on what she lifted made it all the way the United States Supreme Court and is now on remand).
Common life situations can give rise to complex accommodation/leave litigation. For that reason, those counseling employers and employees need to be well versed in state and federal statutory, case law related to this area and understand how the two interact, so they can provide informed advice about policies and specific situations.
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