Sure, no one likes overtime but sometimes it’s unavoidable. But what happens when an employee can’t work overtime due to a medical condition? A recent ruling has gotten HR professionals and managers thinking long and hard about how they handle overtime.
In the case, a former employee had a disability that restricted her from lifting. The employee later became pregnant and her doctor reemphasized the lifting restriction. The doctor also stated that the employee could not work more than 40 hours a week due to her medical conditions, but this restriction, according to the court, was made to seem indefinite. After learning of these restrictions, the employer informed the employee that they couldn’t accommodate her permanent 40 hour work week limit and that she needed to have her doctor lift the restrictions. The employer also asked her several times to fill out FMLA paperwork but she did not want to accept the family medical leave, thus resulting in the employer firing her for unexcused absences. The former employee then sued for disability discrimination. But the court ruled in favor of the employer, meaning they didn’t commit any ADA violations.
The possibility of something like this happening is a huge headache for managers and HR professionals. But being familiar with the ADA will help you know what you can and can’t ask for of your employees with disabilities. While this case may seem to say otherwise at first glance, the ADA can’t require HR professionals and managers to eliminate essential job functions for disabled employees. You do have to pursue reasonable accommodation for employees to help them perform their essential job functions, but that doesn’t mean you have to get rid of those essential functions completely. The employer in this case argued that the former employee couldn’t perform essential job functions, which included mandatory overtime, with or without reasonable accommodation. Both the HR professional involved in the case and the job description of the former employee’s position confirmed that overtime is considered an essential job function. The employer also offered the former employee unpaid leave, which she refused, thus essentially declining the interactive process required by ADA to work out an accommodation.
Digging deeper into this particular case, it becomes clear that no ADA violation was committed because the employer made it clear from the start that being available to work overtime is mandatory, and the former employee’s medical limitations meant that she could not perform an essential function of her job.
What can managers and HR professionals do to protect themselves from a clash between overtime and ADA? First, make sure that your job descriptions state all essential job functions, including overtime hours. And of course, communicate openly about accommodation options and offer numerous chances for the employee to accept an accommodation. If they keep refusing these solutions, this will show that you were the one working toward an agreement and the employee will look unreasonable. Knowing how ADA works is key for HR professionals and managers to protect themselves.
