By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Despite guarantees promised us by the Americans With Disabilities Act way back in 1990, many Action readers feel they are being discriminated against because of their disabilities. A couple of letters reprinted here are good representatives:
One came from a woman I’ll call Ann (not her real name), who wrote:
“Discrimination?
“I am an avid Action reader, I had some questions regarding ADA in the workplace. Being on probationary status (new hire) at work, if I am fired while being sick and out of the office due to my disability, do I have any rights?”
To answer her question, I consulted with a disability rights attorney who preferred to remain anonymous. He responded that Ann was smart to be asking that question before she has a long list of absences, and he advised her to attempt to keep absences at a minimum during the probationary period, to no more than one a month if possible. “If she can, she’ll move through the probation period without having to request an accommodation for something that isn’t a problem yet,” he said. “If she does see a pattern developing that could become a problem with excessive absences, she should plan her approach to the employer.” He suggests the following steps:
1. Obtain a note from the treating physician explaining that because of your impairment, you are requesting a reasonable accommodation in the form of an additional day of sick leave each 30 days.
2. Submit the note to the director of human resources or employee health, not to your supervisor. Supervisors generally do not receive training in negotiating reasonable accommodations. Submit the request in person, and have a conversation about it at that time. Identify yourself as a person with a disability. (You cannot ask for an accommodation unless you disclose that you have a disability.)
3. Encourage a 3-way conversation with your physician, human resources (HR) and you. HR should then take whatever agreement is reached to your supervisor.
4. Then the supervisor’s job is to make sure that, accommodation or none, the employee is fulfilling all of the essential functions of the job. And Ann’s job (or yours) is to focus on those functions-getting the job done.
The expert noted that this will not guarantee that Ann’s employment won’t be terminated, especially if she is missing a lot of time at the office and she is not performing her job functions. “If she is dismissed during the probationary period for not performing her job functions, Ann basically needs to find another job, as the employer has the discretion to terminate the employment at will during the probationary period. “I hope to hear from Ann soon and will try to update my readers on her situation, which is not at all unique.
Another all-too-familiar scenario was presented by a reader I’ll call Joanne:
“I’ve been looking for a job for over 5 months now. And I believe people are discriminating against me due to my disability. How do I stop this practice when I talk to the employer? I really need a job, I wonder if you can help me?”
My response: Your situation is a common one. That is why the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in the first place, to end discrimination against people with disabilities in employment. But not everyone obeys the law, or they find ways of circumventing it. An employer can always tell you they hired someone who is “better qualified.” If you suspect otherwise, you can file a complaint with the EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission www.eeoc.gov/ charge/overview_charge_filing.
Another reader, Denise, wrote:
“I want to look for part-time work I can do from home. I was looking for about 15 hours a week, computer work. I would really appreciate if you can help me out..”
My response to Denise and many others is that I do not have a stash of jobs that I can hand out to people. Wish I did, but each of you who wants a part-time job working from home, which must be half the readership at least, has to look for one or create one for yourself.
Enter “work at home” into any search engine and you will find dozens of websites promising “legitimate, scam-free” opportunities to make money working part-time at home. I cannot vouch for any of them, but there are a few that have been touted by well-respected authorities. Check out www.makemoneywebsitereviews.com/?link_ id=80.
I will check out some of them and follow up in a future column.
Tamar Asedo Sherman is an employment specialist. She can be reached at tsherman@unitedspinal.org.
