ADA - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

HR in VA · June 2002

Employee states that she has carpal tunnel syndrome; employee's physician has certified that she can only perform tasks that involve light lifting, keyboarding, etc "occassionally" - 33% of the day when we pressed him for specifics. This means that the employee can only perform the essential functions of her job 2.6 hours per day. The supervisor has attempted to find other work for this employee to do as an accommodation, but it is still only totaling about 3 hours of work a day.

- Can we require that they employee take paid leave for the other 5 hours of the day until her doctor releases her full duty?

- Can we require that she file a short-term disability claim? Our STD program requires that the employee be out for a full 7 days before they are eligible for benefits so I'm not sure if a claim would be approved if she can work 2-3 hours a day.

Don D · June 2002

I don't recommend using return to work accomodation in this case unless it is workers' comp and I don't see that in your post. If that's all she can work, what you're doing is creating a 'make work' situation that will be setting an extreme precedent for future complaints. Don't return her until she's released to return and can perform a majority of the essential functions of her job for the work day. Let her file the disability. Your policy probably will go back and retro the other days after she is absent for 'x' number of days.

Carol CA · June 2002

If she typically does a lot of keyboarding in her job, she may have grounds for a worker's comp claim. If so, you are not required to provide modified duty (although many companies do so to try to keep people working and costs down). She would be out on w/c until released to return to full duty, or she may have to go through vocational rehab and be retrained for another job.

If it is not worker's comp, you are under no obligation to accommodate her. Tell her you don't have work for her until she is recovered.

Good Luck!

Theresa Gegen TX · June 2002

If she has a worker's comp claim, the law will be very state specific (each state has its own worker's comp law and has different requirements for the employers). So if it is a worker's comp issue, you need to only look at local information.

Good Luck!

HR in VA · June 2002

She was never gone, (so it is not a mattter of not allowing her to return to work - she never left) she just notified us that she could not perform the work, and we went through the process of getting the specifics from her doctor. She has not filed a W/C claim by the way. She has filed a short-term disability claim but under our program she could work 2.6 hours and receive STD benefits for the remaining time. We'd prefer that she be out 100%, but it looks like under FMLA we have to allow her to take intermittent leave?

Hatchetman · June 2002

If her doctor states that the CTS causes her a serious health condition as desrbed in FMLA, then she would be entitled to intermittent or reduced FMLA leave to the extent tht she has 12 weeks of that, or any part of the 12 weeks, available to her (I'm assuiming the compnay and she meet FMLA requirements. You could get a second medical opinion if you had reason to disagree with her doctor. If you place her on intermittent leave, you can transfer her to an alternate position with a work schedule that is based upon the reduced hours and that would better accommodate the reduced hours than the original position. The position must have the equivalent RATE of pay and benefits and the emplyee must be qualified tohold the position.

NJODM · August 2002

What type of accommodations have been offered. Have you looked into any assistive technology. ie voice active software, ergonomic eval for keyboard, mouse and monitor. What are the job duties that require limted time. Trying to use technology in some cases are less expensive and more productive then paying premiums for w/c or FMLA, or other insurance claims.

ADA - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

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