Alert and inform about legal issues, risks, and solutions relating to employees
Stress [stres] (noun): a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.
Almost all types of work is stressful at least some of the time. Some jobs are inherently stressful. So, how does an employer navigate an employee’s request for accommodation that is based upon a medical condition,…
How much extra leave is reasonable for an employee who has exhausted FMLA but is not yet capable of returning to work? Does an employer have to keep the absent employee’s job open? What medical evidence is needed? How much interactive dialogue is enough? What about an employee is who is unreasonable and/or demanding?
A recent opinion from the Eighth Circuit provides helpful guidance about these and other problems employers face when deciding whether extended medical leave is a reasonable accommodation for an employee with a serious medical condition who is not yet capable of returning to work. See Brunckhorst v. City of Oak Park Heights, (8th Cir. 2/4/2019).Continue Reading Eighth Circuit Case Provides Guidance on How to Handle the Vexing Problem of Extended Medical Leave as a Reasonable Accommodation
This is a question about which Iowa employers are increasingly concerned. The probability your employees and applicants for employment have used marijuana in some form has substantially increased in recent years. Medical marijuana use is now legal in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Recreational use is legal in ten states. But, marijuana is still classified as a “Schedule I” drug under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, making it illegal to possess, use, or sell. The very fact that marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug means the Food and Drug Administration has determined it has no currently accepted medical use, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.
Continue Reading Does Iowa’s Medical Marijuana Law Impact an Employer’s Right to Maintain a Drug-Free Workplace?
Employers that accommodate employees’ temporary disabilities should consider extending the practice to nursing mothers returning to work following maternity leave. That’s the lesson of a recent opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Hicks v. City of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 11th Cir., 9/7/2017) In Hicks, a City police department’s insistence that an officer return to the beat rather than to allowing her work a temporary desk job resulted in a substantial plaintiff verdict.
Continue Reading Court Affirms Six-Figure Verdict to Nursing Mother Who Quit Because of Employer’s Failure to Provide Suitable Breastfeeding Accommodation
How to best accommodate pregnant employees is a frequent challenge Iowa employers face. Pregnant employees may be entitled to protection under the laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, as well as those requiring equal treatment based upon gender and disability. Many employers have tried to walk this fine line with policies that allow…
FMLA provides a qualifying employee up twelve weeks of job protected leave. That means the employee is entitled to return to the same position held before the leave, or to an “equivalent position” with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions. FMLA does not require an employer to restore employment if the employee is …