not working as an accommodation

Irie

If you have an employee who has an ADA qualifying condition and they have exhhausted all FMLA but they are unable to come to work, is not coming to work a reasonable accommodation? I don't think it is, as attendance should be an essential function of the job and for this particular job you must be physically at work. It is a production position.

Would you be within your rights to terminate the employee if they couldn't come to work? Or do you have to allow them to take off full days periodically as an accommodation? Thanks.

Down_the_Middle

You're half way there by acknowledging that "attendance is an essential function of the job"....... that is correct and you certainly can expect that he shows-up for work..... The 2nd component of providing time off for treatment, etc may well be a reasonable accommodation. Perhaps partial days or something like that may be deemed necessary and would not likely create undue hardship. Offering addt'l time off via a non-FMLA leave of absence is also another option depending on your orgz'l practice and policies. At the conclusion of this addt'l time off, if the employee is unable to RTW you would proceed with termination via your policy.

System

I agree with DtM - ees have to show up to work sooner or later. x;-) You need to analyze the specific situation to see how much leave would be reasonable. I remember one case from years ago where an er easily replaced an ADA ee with a temp for a ridiculous amount of time - more than a year, I think. There was no undue hardship, so the court said it was reasonable.

But I've also seen cases firmly state that indefinite leave, without an estimated return date, wasn't reasonable.

Good luck!

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com