mental-illness-diagnosis

[vickyp]

#79591

Forum: Community

We have an employee who was recently diagnosed with social and occupational impairment. We have provided accommodations but feel we are at the part of frustration or that she is unable to do the job. When can an employer say she is unable to fulfill the requirements of a position?

[13gb17@queensu.ca]

#79592

What constitutes excessive or undue hardship that would justify an employer in not doing more to accommodate the employee will depend on all of the circumstances. Hardship is not “undue” unless the employer would encounter significant difficulty in the workplace in doing anything more to accommodate the employee. The standard is a high one to meet because the law recognizes that this is the point that the employee’s right to be free from discrimination is outweighed by the employer’s need to structure and conduct its workplace in a certain way.
The following factors are often relied on by Employers who say they cannot accommodate an employee any further because it would cause undue hardship:

Risks to health or safety of the employee, co-workers, or others
Cost
Effect on workplace productivity
Interference with collective agreement provisions
Impact on the rights and interests of other employees
Inter-changeability of the workforce and facilities
Size of the operation
Employers cannot rely on discriminatory attitudes of the public, clients or co-workers in arguing that an accommodation would cause undue hardship (e.g. clients who do not want to be served by a woman.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DOCUMENTATION
The importance of comprehensive documentation of the whole accommodation process cannot be overemphasized. Record all efforts made to accommodate an employee. You should proceed on the assumption that others may scrutinize what you did long after your involvement is over. All those involved in the process should be aware of the need to record their efforts and that third party scrutiny is a possibility. At a minimum, you should document the following:

Record any request for accommodation or how you became aware of the need for accommodation, including all information provided by the employee and/or the employee’s physician or other person about the disability or characteristic requiring accommodation.
Keep dated notes of all efforts made to determine the extent of the employee’s need for accommodation that, if met, would allow the employee to fully participate in their employment. Where it is determined that a need does not exist or that the need can be met in a less intrusive manner than what has been suggested, keep notes of the rationale for the decision.
Keep dated notes of all conversations, meetings and telephone discussions held in relation to the matter.
Record the accommodation options considered including those rejected as being unsuitable or as constituting undue hardship, including the rationale for the rejection.
Record all expert advice obtained to assist in the accommodation process.
All offers of accommodation and the employee’s response should be in writing. Where an employee rejects an offer of accommodation that you consider meets their need, document that refusal. In appropriate circumstances, you may provide written advice to the employee stating that the employer discharged its duty to accommodate by making a reasonable offer of accommodation.

[Author]

Posts