What actually is “Reasonable Accommodation”

Employment discrimination has been continuously occurring in spite of the implementation of different employment laws that cater to the interest and protection of employees. Taking into account reasonable accommodation, it is defined as allowing an employee with disability to perform specific function in the same manner as employees with disability.

Meanwhile, an employer carries the responsibility of making reasonable accommodations for the employee’s disability. In other words, an employer is the one who must make adjustments in order to fit the interest of the disabled employee.

Reasonable accommodations often include:

·   Restructuring the job or duties to allow the disabled employee to do the job

·   Permitting the disabled employee to have vacation for medical reasons

·   Providing the disabled employee with a qualified reader or interpreter

·   Changing the work schedule to suit the comfort of the disabled employee

·   Putting in special equipment to help the employee do his or her duties, such as wheelchairs and ramps

·   Allowing the disabled employee to take additional unpaid leave for medical purposes

·   Moving the disabled employee to a vacant position or to a temporary light-duty position

Pregnancy-related Protections under Title VII

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) prohibits any act of discrimination on the basis of childbirth, pregnancy, or related medical conditions, including unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII. This provision covers employers with 15 or more employees, as well as state and local governments.

Under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, PDA also applies to employment agencies, labor organizations, and the federal government. Also, women who are pregnant or were affected by pregnancy-related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with the same abilities or limitations.

Here are the protections provided by Title VII:

Hiring. Any employer should not deny application of a pregnant applicant only because of her condition and other pregnancy-related stipulations, or because of the discrimination done by co-workers, customers, or clients.

Health Insurance. Any health insurance provided by employer must cover expenses for the employee’s pregnant condition on the same basis as costs for other medical conditions. However, in cases of abortion, an employer does not need to provide health insurance, except where the mother’s life is endangered.

The Importance of a Pre-employment Screening Program

One of the tactics that hiring personnel do to determine the applicant’s suitability for the position that he or she is applying for is the pre-employment screening. It is usually done before accepting an applicant for a particular post.

The major reason why pre-employment screening is necessary is to verify the qualifications of applicants. However, skills and capacities to do the job are not the only areas of consideration in the probe.

The personality backgrounds of applicants are also usually taken into consideration. In such cases, the legal services of employment law attorneys may be needed, as the “screeners” have to be thorough in the screening.

Meanwhile, here are the key areas in which a pre-screening background works:

• Conducting a pre-screening program encourages applicants to feel at ease during the interview.

• A screening program shows that an employer has made his or her duty of complying with the needed diligence, which provides a great deal of legal protection in the event of a lawsuit.

• It describes and sets limitations of uncertainty in the hiring process. Although impression and instinct during the hiring process are essential, a decision made based on concrete information is way better than any other bases.

• Doing a pre-screening can discourage applicants with their plans of hiding something. A person with a criminal record or a forged resume will simply apply to a company that does not do pre-screening.

Additionally, in the conduct of a pre-employment screening, checking criminal records is a great example, as it helps accomplish safe hiring.

There has been an inference that 10 percent of job applicants have criminal conviction records prior to the hiring process. Without pre-screening programs, statistics shown that companies unwittingly  hire someone with a criminal record.

Such record is commonly uncovered by qualified researchers who visit courthouses where the applicant has resided or worked.