medical restictions question utah

[ultrix]

I am having a problem with medical restrictions getting passed at my current job, from my understanding of how they work is that if you have a disability and a doctor signs off on it, and it doesn’t affect your primary job function then the company is required to provide for the medical restrictions oh and if it “doesn’t cause undo hard ship for the company”.

The company first off wont give me a listing of my primary job function, all they say is apply for the medical restriction and they will decide if it effects my primary job function. This gives me the feeling they will do everything they can to deny any medical restrictions while making it impossible for me and my doctor to come up with anything that might allow me to perform my job but get a few medical restrictions to make it easier to maintain my job and perform well at my job.

Second any medical restriction that other employees have managed to get passed always have a 6month time frame in a rolling 12 month year, doesn’t matter what the restriction is. If at the 6months end you still need the restriction a company wide job search is performed to fit you with a job that does not require this medical restriction, if you don’t except the job they find you, normally at about 1/3 your pay for my department, then they consider it the same thing as quitting, if they do not find another job then they imply you will be laid off. Every one I have talked to that has dealt with this either quits before that time frame ends or just sucks it up for 6 months to pass and then repeat it all over again. From my understanding they are required to provide me with a description of my primary job function and a medical restriction with no time limit as long as it doesn’t affect my primary job function and cause undo hard ship for the company.

Is this correct? Or am I misunderstanding the laws? If it is correct any suggestions or help would be great

thanks

[ElleMD]

Well, neither you nor your employer has it entirely correct. If you condition rises to that of a disability under ADA (and that requires much more than just having a medical condition that affects your job) tehn you are required to enter into an interactive process to determine what if any accommodations are necessary to allow you to perform the essential functions of your job. While they can not arbitrarially limit this to 6 months, there is no guaranteed amount of time that the accommodation must be granted. A reevaluation at 6 months can be a very good idea.

While a transfer to a vacant position that the employee can do may be considered a reasonable accommodation, it certainly isn't the only thing that can be done. If the employee is able to perform their former job with or without accommodation and there isn't some other reason for needed to transfer them, the employer can not just transfer them to a lesser paying job because they are disabled.

While it may be beneficial to provide the doctor the essential functions of the job, it is not required. The employer can ask for the list of restrictions then decide what portions of the job may be effected. In some cases this may be the preferred method of handling it. There may be ways of modifying the tasks listed that the doctor does not know about so just having him or her write a list of job tasks the employee can not perform does not help the employer determine accommodations.

you can find out more by going to www.eeoc.gov