Joseph Robertson
Many employers instituted work from home policies during the pandemic that they are now fine-tuning or rethinking. While telework technology advances and return to onsite work initiatives unfold, employers must navigate part-time and full-time remote work requests, including ones lodged under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This article outlines how to navigate a request for remote work related to a disability with examples of recent decisions that impact employers in Colorado.
Generally, a remote work accommodation request should be processed like any other accommodation request. The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees that will allow them to perform their essential job functions, so long as such accommodation does not constitute an undue hardship for the employer. An employer’s failure to provide such accommodations, or actions an employer takes against an employee in response to such a request, may result in a claim under the ADA for disability discrimination or retaliation. As a result, each remote work accommodation request must be considered individually even if the employer has a policy that generally prohibits working from home. Read more
