Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Return to work from disability leave with doctors restrictions.

Often employers are confronted by employees who wish to return from a medical leave with doctor's restrictions, and employers are perplexed as to what action they must take. As workers' compensation benefits continue to be reduced, employees are looking to their employers to return back to work with more regularity. This is particularly true when there is no more, or very little vocational rehabilitation, such as in California.

Keep in mind that the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the ADA pursuant to Title VII under federal law, require that employers engage in an "interactive process" to determine "reasonable accommodations" to return disabled employees back to work to the extent that does not create an undue hardship. It is the landscape of this requirement that causes problems for employers and is a hotbed of litigation and a minefield for employers who have little understanding of the law as it relates to their disabled employees.

No comments: