California Employment Law Refresher: Reasonable Accommodation and Interactive Process Obligations with Focus on Remote/Hybrid Work
California and federal law require employers to engage in the interactive process to discuss reasonable accommodations that will enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform a position’s essential job functions. One potential option, which may or may not be a reasonable accommodation depending upon the circumstances, involves remote or hybrid work. This week’s legal update provides a refresher regarding employer and employee obligations in the interactive process with a focus on remote and hybrid work as a potential reasonable accommodation.
California Civil Rights Department Publishes Disability Accommodations at Work Fact Sheet
The new Fact Sheet addresses issues such as requesting accommodations, providing medical information, the interactive process, and safety accommodations after a qualifying act of violence.
California Court Clarifies When Employers Have Knowledge of an Employee’s Disability for Purposes of the Fair Employment and Housing Act
California law prohibits discrimination in the workplace vis-à-vis an employee’s “known” disability. A California appellate court recently clarified the standards that apply in the context of disability discrimination, failure to engage in the interactive process, and failure to reasonably accommodate where an employee engages in conduct that might be the result of a mental disability, but could be the result of other factors, and the employee has not disclosed the existence of a disability.
Practical Steps for Employers to Engage in the Interactive Process and Provide Reasonable Accommodations
The beginning of each year is a good time to re-evaluate current practices and procedures to ensure supervisors know how to recognize and assist employees in communicating needs and obtaining resources to perform their essential job duties with or without reasonable accommodation.