FMLA and ADA
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[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-05-04 AT 01:41PM (CST)[/font][br][br]We have an employee who had back surgery last June and is now complaining that the surgery was unsuccessful. He tried to get the surgery covered by WC, but it was diagnosed as a medical condition and was denied, so it went through our health insurance. The surgeon told our employee that the surgery would greatly reduce, but not eliminate, the pain in his back. This guy got a lawyer last summer and is just poised for a lawsuit. How would you proceed if the employee started complaining about a recurrence of the health condition - recommend a doctor visit and FMLA? I'm thinking we should just wait for him to go to a doctor, but this guy is a real hothead and has management freaking at the mention of his lawyer. I've read several posts relating to ADA and FMLA and am wondering what forms are available or required for doctors to complete in the process of determining if someone is disabled, and what that process is. Thanks in advance for your advice!
Linda
Linda
Comments
Remember, FMLA is for leave purposes.
ADa is for accommodating on the job an emplyee who is disabled under ADA in order for the emplyee to be able to perform the essential duties of the job. Leave could be a reasonable accommodation under ADA. Other accommodations could be implemented if they are effective to allow the individual to perform the essential duties of the job.
For information regarding FMLA, go to DOL website and go through the "eLaw Advisor" for FMLA.
[url]http://www.dol.gov/elaws/fmla.htm[/url]
For information on ADA, which is far more complex than FMLA and what an emplyer needs to do, take a look at EEOC Guidance on ADA, Reasonable Accommodation and Hardship.
[url]http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/accommodation.html[/url]
Having a medical condition doesn't mean that the emplyee is ADA qualified. There must be a signficant physical or psychiatric impairrment of one or more major life activities (as diagnosed by an appropriate licensed practitioner). Each case has to be determined on the specific facts so that in one individual the medical condition may not be a disability but in another it may.
An employer should through the "interactive process" if the medical condition is not obvious or previously documented to determine if the emplyee is ADA disabled and what if any reasonable accommodations should be implemented if the emplyee is ADA disabled.