Based on recent developments, employers wonder how much leave is really required under the ADA. It seems that employers with even generous policies and practices have run afoul of the EEOC either in individualized cases, or, worse yet, in class claims.
Most recently, Verizon Communications Inc. settled for a record $20 million payout based on EEOC allegations that Verizon’s no-fault attendance policies did not adequately provide for an individualized assessment of an employee’s condition. The EEOC has been focusing on such “no-fault attendance” and “maximum leave” policies.
How much leave is required, however, is not the correct question. The better question is: “What must be included in the employer’s process of evaluating an employee’s need for leave?”
Compliance with the ADA is often a “process driven” evaluation. How you do something is almost as important as what you do.
Continue Reading ADA Developments – “How Much Leave Is Required?” Is the Wrong Question