ADA may apply in immediate post-injury periodIn workers' compensation, MMI should not be viewed as the trigger for ADA-related protections and obligations. Background: A common practice in workers’ compensation claims management may not be legal. Employers / claims organizations that postpone the reasonable accommodation process until an injured worker’s medical condition has reached MMI (maximum medical improvement) may be violating the ADA, now that the definition of “disability” has been broadened. Prior to MMI, if medical restrictions have been established by the treating physician, employers often decide whether to offer temporary transitional work without involvement of injured workers. If not, the workers remain out of work – and may end up losing their jobs. Jennifer Christian, MD, MPH who chairs ACOEM’s Work Fitness & Disability Section, asked Aaron Konopasky, JD, PhD, a senior attorney advisor to the EEOC about this. She was surprised to hear that the ADA does apply at any time –whenever a medical condition has the potential to significantly disrupt an employee’s work participation. This means that injured workers will need to be an active participant in their employers’ stay-at-work and return-to-work decision-making process. Christian and Konopasky agreed to co-author a brief summary of the way these two programs interact during the post-injury period, which appears below. In the Worker’s Compensation context, ADA-related issues can arise at any of several points along the injury management timeline. As a practical matter, employers should be pro-actively evaluating and managing Worker’s Compensation and ADA legal issues concurrently. This is because an employer's reasonable accommodation-related obligations begin as soon as the employer knows that an individual worker is having trouble at work because of a serious medical problem. By definition, if a doctor informs the employer that a worker has medical restrictions/limitations due to a work-related condition, whether or not the employee is actually working, the employer is now aware that a medical problem is having an impact on the employee's ability to work. If the condition has the potential to significantly disrupt the employee’s work participation, the employer should immediately engage the worker in an interactive process to look for a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. Although the employer can stop at this point to determine whether the individual is a "qualified individual with a disability," it may not be worthwhile. Since employees with workers' comp injuries are already employed at the time of injury, one can presume they meet the requirement of being "qualified" for the job. And, under the much broader standards established by the ADAAA, any conditions serious enough to require medical restrictions/limitations for more than a few days or weeks (and even some conditions that have not yet caused any work disruption) are likely to meet the definition of an ADA "disability." An extended inquiry regarding the applicability of the ADA could result in unnecessary delay during a critical period. Thus, whether or not the worker's condition is stable and has reached maximum medical improvement (is at MMI) has no relevance, either (a) to the time when the employer's obligation to engage in the interactive process begins or (b) to the time when a worker should be considered a qualified individual with a disability under the ADA. For more details about specific times when the ADA may apply, read below. 1. At the time a person is injured. No matter whether the resulting condition is already stable or is still-evolving, the ADA may require the employer to provide a reasonable accommodation that would enable the individual to perform his or her essential job functions, unless doing so would involve significant difficulty or expense. Examples might include specialized equipment, removal of non-essential job functions, and special scheduling. Individualized assessment is a key precept of the ADA, so a blanket policy is not appropriate. Employers might also choose to reduce job demands or productivity expectations on a short-term basis, although this would not be required by the ADA. It should be noted, though, that the ADA cannot be used to deny a benefit or privilege to which the employee is entitled on a separate basis. If, for example, the individual has other types of leave available at his or her discretion, whether paid (such as vacation leave) or unpaid (such as FMLA leave), the employer cannot deny that leave based on the fact that he or she could remain on the job with a reasonable accommodation. 2. While recovering out of work due to injury. The ADA may apply as soon as the worker's condition becomes stable enough that on-the-job reasonable accommodations might allow the individual to perform the essential functions of the job (whether or not there has been a formal declaration of MMI). A blanket policy is not appropriate at this juncture, either. At this point, the employer should re-engage the interactive process to determine whether a reasonable accommodation would allow the individual to return to their usual job. As mentioned above, employers might also choose to reduce job demands or productivity expectations on a short-term basis, although this would not be required by the ADA. 3. When the individual has exhausted his or her leave and workers' compensation benefits, and is still unable to return to the original position, even with an on-the-job reasonable accommodation. At this point, whether or not the medical condition has reached MMI, the employer should consider other forms of reasonable accommodation, such as additional unpaid leave or, if the individual is not expected to regain the ability to do the essential functions of his or her current position, reassignment to a vacant position (if one is available). Again, a blanket policy is not appropriate. In summary, legal obligations under Worker’s Compensation and ADA legal issues should not be assumed to be sequential, because they may run simultaneously. Duration is not the key issue; the main issue is the nature of the condition and its impact on the ability to function at work.
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