Diversity Award Application Deadline EXTENDED!
New Deadline, Wednesday, July 8th
2009 Corporate Diversity Award
Our Jayhawk SHRM Chapter invites you to nominate your business or another organization for the second annual Jayhawk SHRM Diversity Award. We feel it is important to recognize individual and corporate efforts that promote diversity reflecting their surrounding community.
What is DIVERSITY? Diversity can be defined as understanding, accepting, valuing, and CELEBRATING the differences among people with respect to age, ethnicity, gender, physical and/or mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status.
What has your company done to promote diversity?
· Continuing Education Programs
· Offering company information in other languages
· Promoting work/family balance
· Domestic Partner Benefits
· Job Share Programs / Flexible Hours
· Sponsoring Community Service
· Internships
· Providing Job Opportunities to a Diverse Workforce
· Sensitivity Training
Jayhawk SHRM Diversity Award Application (Word format) (*Instead of filling out the specifics of the form, you may attach a copy of your diversity program.)
The Jayhawk SHRM Diversity Award recipient will be announced at July’s monthly luncheon. Along with the award, the winning company will receive recognition in the Jayhawk SHRM newsletter. Please submit your nomination to Amy H. Carr by Wednesday, July 8th. Completed applications can be emailed, mailed or faxed to: Amy Carr, 325 Maine Street, Lawrence, Kansas 66044 amy.carr@lmh.org 785-505-3006.
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SHRM Foundation Scholarships
Application Deadline: July 15, 2009, The SHRM Foundation has committed a total of $100,000 annually for scholarships to be awarded to national SHRM members pursuing a degree in human resources or SPHR, GPHR, PHR or California certification. Chapters and state councils are eligible to compete for the scholarship monies to find programs that promote certification. For information on award criteria and application procedures go to: http://shrm.org/about/foundation/scholarships/Pages/default.aspx
Expanded Disabilities Act
By Victoria Zelles
4/13/09
As the New Year rang in, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act took effect, bringing millions more people within the ADA’s protection. The ADA Amendments Act’s (ADAAA) vast expansion of “disability” means that many more applicants and employees are eligible for reasonable accommodations and that employers need a fresh ADA compliance strategy.
In the past, employers often won ADA cases by filing motions for summary judgment and establishing that the plaintiffs were not disabled, avoiding expensive jury trials.
The ADAAA broadened the ADA’s definition of disability by expanding the term “major life activities,” doing away with the “substantially limited” requirement for those regarded as having a disability, and overturning two U.S. Supreme Court decisions that interpreted the ADA’s definition of disability narrowly.
The ADA still covers only qualified individuals with disabilities and provides that to be disabled, an individual must have “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,” or must have a record of such an impairment, or must be regarded as having such an impairment.
However, with the ADAAA, the only requirement for the “regarded as” prong is that the impairment must not be minor—a criterion the law does not define—or transitory, defined in the law as lasting less than six months.
The ADAAA also defines and vastly expands the term “major life activities” as including “caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating and working.” The amendment states that major life activities also include the operation of a major bodily function, such as “functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine and reproductive functions.”
Decisions Overturned
In addition, the ADAAA overturns two U.S. Supreme Court decisions that had limited the ADA’s coverage. One decision let employers consider the ameliorative effects of mitigating measures, such as hearing aids and medication, when determining whether someone has a disability (Sutton v. United Airlines Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999)). The ADAAA instead requires that employers evaluate impairments without regard to mitigating measures. Thus, a mental disorder such as depression controlled by medication must be considered in its unmedicated state to determine if it is a disability. The ADAAA does have an exception that permits employers to take into account the effects of eyeglasses and contact lenses.
The ADAAA also overturned a Supreme Court decision that concluded that the term “disability” should be viewed narrowly and that said the ADA requires a demanding standard to prove one is disabled (Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184 (2002)). The ADAAA instead provides that disability should be viewed broadly and asks the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to issue regulations to further address this issue.
Another important change requires that impairments that are episodic or in remission qualify as disabilities if in their active stage they would substantially limit a major life activity. This revision, along with the one regarding mitigating measures, moves numerous conditions such as cancer, diabetes and epilepsy from a case-by-case determination to almost certain status as ADA disabilities.
What ADAAA Changed
While the ADAAA did not alter the ADA’s reasonable accommodation and nondiscrimination requirements, many more individuals will qualify for these protections. So it’s essential that key professionals understand what the ADA, as amended, involves:
Who is covered. Given the expansion of “major life activities” and the removal of mitigating measures from consideration in disability determinations, almost anyone who has, or is regarded as having, a serious impairment or disease that is not temporary will qualify as disabled. Ensure that training covers any applicable state laws prohibiting disability discrimination.
How hiring policies and practices are affected. Since applicants are covered, re-evaluate hiring processes. Case in point: Reading is now a major life activity. Thus, you will need to look at how reading may affect your hiring process. If reading isn’t an essential function of the job, such as for a maintenance staff position, and if a candidate can’t read, an employer probably will have to provide a reasonable accommodation to help the candidate complete the application process.
However, if reading and writing are essential job functions, the employer doesn’t need to provide such assistance. The amended ADA does not require employers to change essential job duties. And you are not expected to be a mind reader—you will need to offer assistance only if the applicant requests help.
Employers also should remind those who screen applicants that employers are not allowed to ask whether individuals have disabilities. Interviewers can ask whether someone is able to perform essential job functions with or without accommodation.
The interactive process and its requirements. When someone requests an accommodation, the ADA requires an employer to engage in the interactive process with the person to determine if a reasonable accommodation can be provided to enable that person to perform the requirements of the position. However, many courts have held that an individual does not need to use the magic words, “I’m requesting an accommodation for my disability.” Rather, if someone simply states, “I need help or assistance because of my impairment,” that triggers the process. Here are some additional examples of triggers for the interactive process:
An employee tells his supervisor he is having trouble reading an internal memo because of his poor vision.
An employee asks her supervisor if she can come to work two hours late because of an appointment with her physical therapist.
An employee informs his supervisor he cannot work overtime because of his sleep apnea.Supervisors need to be trained to report statements like these to the HR department.
What accommodations are reasonable. Determining reasonable accommodations varies greatly according to employer and position. It may be unreasonable to require a small construction company to provide a bucket truck to an employee who cannot climb a ladder, but this accommodation may be reasonable for a large utility.
Supervisors should work with HR and corporate counsel to determine reasonable accommodations.
What is prohibited. Harassment actions can be brought under the ADA. Of the 27,262 total harassment charges made to the EEOC and state fair employment practices agencies in fiscal 2007, 4,934 were for disability harassment—third after race and sexual harassment and more than the amount for age, national origin or religious harassment. Train all employees to prohibit harassment and to report complaints of impairment-related harassment to HR.
Similarly, retaliation is prohibited. If an individual requests an accommodation, regardless of whether the employer provides the accommodation, that individual is protected from retaliation for making the request.
It’s also important to understand the interplay between the ADA, as amended, and other laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, state nondiscrimination and state family-leave statutes, workers’ compensation laws, and Social Security disability.
The author is a labor and employment attorney in Cozen O’Connor’s Philadelphia office and can be reached at vzellers@cozen.com. Reprinted with permission of the Society for Human Resource Management, www.shrm.org. Copyright 2007. No other republication or external use is allowed without permission of SHRM. The information is not intended to serve as a substitute for legal advice.
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Kansas State Council of SHRM's
2009 Kansas Legislative Session Update
May 26, 2009
HR News Quiz
(updated every Friday)
Kansas SHRM State Conference
Celebrating Twenty Years of HRising to New Heights
Register Today at www.ksshrm.com
September 23, 2009 to September 25, 2009
Capital Plaza Hotel & Kansas Expocentre
Topeka, Kansas
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