The Job Accommodation Network has a new resource, “Managing Accommodations during the Great Return to the Office“.
It talks about how employers need to set reasonable timelines for employees to return to the workplace after they’ve been teleworking, especially employees with disabilities. They may need time to make changes in their personal lives before coming back to the office.
The resource offers tips for handling accommodation requests including:
- Do not enforce a policy that no one can telework.
- Set reasonable timelines for returning to work.
- Let employees know about how to request accommodations and tell them about the process.
- Remember ADA rules about medical documentation.
- Do not assume medical documentation is not real.
- Do not rely on pre-pandemic situations when making accommodation decisions.