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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
Employers should reconsider any policies they have that call for set periods of leave in light of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's aggressive pursuit of litigation in accommodating workers who take time off under the Americans with Disabilities Act, observers say.
Stacie L. Caraway, a member of Miller & Martin P.L.L.C. in Chattanooga, Tenn., said advised examining policies that sound mandatory or inflexible.
“The key word the EEOC wants to see right now is "flexibility,'” said Ms. Caraway. “They want to see that each person has the opportunity to get a unique response to their particular situation.”
Employers “should make sure that their policies and handbooks don't have a unilateral cutoff that says, "If you're out for a certain period of time, you'll be terminated,'” said Susan K. Lessack, a partner with Pepper Hamilton L.L.P. in Berwyn, Pa.
Ellen E. McLaughlin, a partner with Seyfarth Shaw L.L.P. in Chicago, who spoke on behalf of large employers at an EEOC hearing in June, said the EEOC wants employers to send letters to employees when they are close to reaching their maximum leave period and allow them to ask for a reasonable accommodation that either would return them to work or extend their leave.
It also is critical “that human resources be trained to understand that when an employee asks for additional leave time, or suggests something that may assist them in returning to work, that they need to begin the interactive process with that employee,” she said.