ADA Accommodations for At-Risk Employees: Updated EEOC Guidance, Reasonableness Standard, Return to Work Policies

This CLE course will provide employment counsel with advice on the current EEOC guidance related to reasonable accommodations required under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), particularly how to address requests from high-risk employees. The panel will address the COVID-19 pandemic and caregiver discrimination under federal employment discrimination laws for which technical assistance was issued in March 2022. The program will also address July 2022 updates from the EEOC on potential discrimination claims and the effects of instituting a mandatory testing policy for highly transmittable diseases and when and if requiring vaccination for continued employment is legally viable.

The COVID-19 pandemic created new issues under the ADA, for example by increasing the number and classification of vulnerable employees as defined by federal law, including those who may be suffering from long COVID. Many issues continue to evolve: When can an employer request or require an employee to remain away from the workplace, what accommodations are required and permitted, and how should the parties engage in requesting and evaluating accommodation?

Employment counsel must be aware of the current EEOC guidance, initially issued on May 5, 2020, and updated most recently in March and July 2022, addressing the ADA and COVID-19 directly.

Whether to require COVID testing or vaccination for employees to return to work or for continued or future employment continues to be debated, especially as the cost of such testing is no longer free.

Listen as our authoritative panel discusses the current state of EEOC guidance on the ADA and what employers can and should do when facing a return to work employee who is medically vulnerable. The panel will provide best practices and policies for compliance with the current laws and mitigate future lawsuit risks.