Software Club 210: Light Red/Club_Software_210_Light_Red_Micro_Star_1997.iso/sba/f130.sbe

Text File | 1997-01-01 | 12KB | 282 lines

@158 CHAP 5

     ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
     │COMPLIANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT│
     └───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

In July of 1990, Congress enacted a revolutionary and
wide-reaching piece of legislation, the Americans with
Disabilities Act (The ADA), designed to make both the
workplace and most public facilities much more accessible
to disabled persons than has been the case up to now.

This new law (42 U.S.C. 12101, et seq.) and related
regulations (29 C.F.R. 1630), which were phased in over a
period of several years, are already having significant
impacts on a great many businesses, both in terms of
employment practices, covered under Title I of the ADA,
and in terms of removing architectural barriers and other
physical features that have limiting effects on the lives
of disabled persons (Title III of ADA).


         NEW ANTI-DISCRIMINATION HIRING
         RULES REGARDING THE DISABLED

Title I of ADA, effective for larger firms on July 26, 1992,
prohibits discrimination against any "qualified individual
with a disability" in all aspects of employment, including
hiring and discharge of workers, compensation and benefits.
In addition, employers must "reasonably accommodate"
employees' or applicants' disabilities, which may mean
modifying facilities, restructuring work schedules, or
transferring disabled workers to vacant positions for which
they are qualified, in appropriate circumstances.  Employers
are not required to accommodate a disabled worker, however,
if doing so would impose an "undue hardship" on the employer.
@IF014xx](NOTE:  Because your firm has fewer than 15 employees, the
@IF014xx]ADA discrimination rules that phased in between 1992 and
@IF014xx]1994 do not apply to @NAME.)
@IF015xx]These ADA discrimination rules already apply to you, since
@IF015xx]your firm has @EMP employees (assuming that at least fifteen
@IF015xx]people are employed during any given 20 weeks of the year
@IF015xx]by @NAME).


         MEDICAL SCREENING TESTS
         SHARPLY CURTAILED

One area that is significantly affected in the hiring
process is the limitation on medical screening of applicants.
Companies no longer can, under ADA, screen out prospective
employees with disabilities because the applicant has
an elevated risk of an on-the-job injury, or a medical
condition that might be aggravated because of job demands.
The law specifically bans questions about a job applicant's
physical or mental condition either on an employment
application form or during a job interview.  (Including
general questions such as, "Do you have any mental or physical
conditions that would prevent you from performing your job
functions?")

Medical exams are still allowed, but are now greatly
restricted.  Pre-offer exams are prohibited, but an offer
may be conditioned upon the satisfactory results of a
medical examination.  (But results cannot be used to
withdraw an offer, unless they show that the individual
in question is not able to perform the tasks required by
the position sought.)

Employers should be aware that the definition of "disabled"
under the ADA includes people with AIDS, those who test
positive for HIV, and rehabilitated drug abusers and
alcoholics.

But note that the ADA does NOT:

  . prohibit voluntary tests, such as employer-sponsored
    cholesterol or blood pressure tests; nor

  . require employers to hire persons who are:  currently
    engaged in use of illegal drugs; who have contagious
    diseases; compulsive gamblers; kleptomaniacs;
    pyromaniacs; or homosexuals.

ADA is neutral on the issue of drug testing of employees,
in effect leaving that up to regulation by the states.


ADA's employment-related rules became effective on the
following dates:


  . July 26, 1992 -- Equal employment rules with regard to
    the disabled, effective for employers with 25 or more
    employees during 20 weeks of the year.

  . January 26, 1993 -- All commercial firms, not just
    those serving the public, must make NEW facilities and
    grounds accessible to the disabled, both to disabled
    employees and to customers.

  . July 26, 1994 -- Equal employment rules with regard to
    the disabled became effective for employers with 15 or
    more employees during 20 weeks of the year.

@IF023xx](NOTE:  Since your firm has @EMP employees, it is thus
@IF023xx]subject to the ADA discrimination rules, due to the fact
@IF023xx]that the ADA threshold is 15 employees as of July 26, 1994.
@IF023xx]Prior to that date, the ADA discrimination rules would not
@IF023xx]have applied to @NAME.)


       PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS FOR
       THE DISABLED

Title III of the ADA requires practically all businesses to
make their facilities accessible to disabled employees and
customers.  Examples of various accessibility requirements
with regard to public accommodations include the following
(in all new facilities, and where "feasible" in existing
ones):

  . A specified number of designated parking spaces for the
    disabled provided, depending on the total number of such
    parking spaces;

  . Hotels and motels must have a set percentage of their
    rooms accessible to wheelchairs and other rooms must be
    equipped with such devices as visual alarms for the
    hearing-impaired, for instance;

  . Access ramps must be in place where the floor is not
    sufficiently level;

  . Elevators must be provided in most multi-story buildings;

  . In retail and grocery stores, checkout aisles must be
    wide enough for wheelchairs;

  . Theaters and similar places of assembly must have
    specified numbers of wheelchair spaces dispersed
    throughout their seating area;

  . And many other similar requirements....

The new public access requirements became effective for all
companies (of any size) on January 26, 1993.


     TAX INCENTIVES FOR REMOVING ARCHITECTURAL BARRIERS

Companies that must spend money to remove architectural and
transportation barriers to the disabled can deduct up to
$15,000 a year of such expenses. (I.R.C. Sec. 190.)  In
addition, small firms (those with gross receipts under $1
million or fewer than 30 full-time employees), who spend
between $250 and $10,250 a year on access for the disabled,
can claim a tax credit for up to 50% of the cost of such
expenditures (a maximum annual credit of $5000).
(I.R.C. Sec 44)

NOTE:  For more information on the Americans with Disabilities
Act, call the U.S. Department of Justice's information line,
at [phone].


          ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
          │  LEGAL AND ILLEGAL JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:   │
          │       (UNDER MAY, 1994 EEOC GUIDELINES)       │
          └───────────────────────────────────────────────┘


A set of questions only a lawyer could love....

The following examples illustrate the extreme subtlety
and technicality of the distinctions between "legal" and
"illegal" job interview questions an employer may ask under
the ADA:

     LEGAL QUESTION                 ILLEGAL QUESTION
  -----------------------------  ---------------------------
1  Do you have 20/20 corrected    What is your corrected
   vision?                        vision?

2  How well can you handle        Does stress ever affect
   stress?                        your ability to be
                                  productive?

3  Can you perform this           Would you need reasonable
   function without               accommodation in this job?
   reasonable accommodation?

4  How many days were you         How many days were you sick
   absent from work last year?    last year?

5  Are you currently illegally    What medications are you
   using drugs?                   currently taking?

6  Do you regularly eat three     Do you need to eat a number
   meals per day?                 of snacks at regular
                                  intervals throughout the day
                                  in order to maintain