Tag Archives: ADA

General Safety Issues

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF (GUEST POST)

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Sent by Bethany Johannson

When employees in good standing with their employer are injured at work, or as a result of work, funds paid into the worker’s compensation system by the employer, or paid directly from the employer as a self-insurer, will provide limited, short term financial aid.

According to the National Academy of Social Insurance, the worker’s compensation system is ordinarily administered by the state. Each state may vary somewhat in benefit delivery and mandates, but worker’s compensation programs are mandatory for all businesses. For federal employees, the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act delivers workers’ compensation benefits to federal employees, including postal workers.

In Georgia, for example, the 1920 law mandating a workers’ compensation fund has since been administered by the State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Funding comes from assessments from insurance companies and self-insured employers, who commonly consider workers’ compensation funds a line item in the yearly budget and report. However, by availing himself (or herself) of the program, an employee is bound to the conditions of the law and can’t seek redress under another system (e.g., a lawsuit).

If a worker’s claim to compensation is contested, or an employer feels it is being held unjustly liable for an injury, either party may ask for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. If no agreement is reached, the Appellate Division can make a decision. Both these legal entities are able to assess and rule on both facts and legal ramifications. When an acceptable decision is finally hammered out, it has the same weight as binding arbitration.

The Georgia law applies to all employers, from public corporations and nonprofit organizations to private companies having at least three full-time or part-time employees. It does not apply to federal government workers, railroad workers, farm workers and domestic help, to name a few exceptions.

State-by-state evaluation of the workers’ compensation program shows most (but not all) following the Georgia example, except in the number of workers needed to trigger workers’ compensation mandate. Variations may also occur in the dollar amount and length of paid leave, depending on the nature of the injury and the state in which it is incurred. One thing is written in stone: an on-the-job injury will elicit a claim, and a valid claim will establish coverage.

When state laws do not prompt the employer to approve a claim asking for coverage, injured workers can invoke the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a federal regulation that protects the disabled from job discrimination. This law operates under Title I of the ADA and forbids employers from refusing to hire the disabled, refusing to promote them, and refusing to give them the same wages for the same job as another employee without disabilities.

However, like most employment law, Title I contains a loophole which allows companies with 15 or fewer employees to bypass the law. In the case of employment agencies, labor organizations and labor management committees (comprised of both corporate management and union representatives), however, as few as one employee brings the Title I rule into play.

Workers who can’t work for an extended period of time, typically a year or more, will at some point apply for Social Security disability insurance. While on this disability income, medical attention will be provided through Medicare. If the injured party does not recover enough to work again, Social Security offers a safety net that includes minor dependents, called SSD (Social Security Disability).

An injured employee returning to work is entitled to ask for some consideration for his or her limiting disability, and as far as it is within their power, employers are obliged to accede. This is called reasonable accommodation. However, this does not mean that employers are required to spend vast amounts of money for specialized equipment, or overhaul the area where the disabled employee worked.

Employers can alter work schedules for a few months, or permanently, if the injured employee is stressed or exhausted by the job. Employers can also shift the employee into a less demanding or sensitive position, but not necessarily at a lower rate of pay.

In effect, the ADA directs employers to, if needed:

1.       Alter a job application process to provide alternatives to an interview (for those with hearing or speaking disabilities), written and timed test (for those with a hand injury that precludes writing), or a demonstration of particular abilities. This latter can apply even where no injury is present, as for example in an assembly line that operates with only right-handed people, and the applicant is left-handed, if he or she can prove ability to meet performance goals.

2.       Alter the work environment, or the manner in which a job is performed, so that a disabled individual can do the work.

3.       Alter the methods by which employees are given performance reviews, promotions, pay raises and bonuses, as well as job training and improvement seminars, so that the disabled employee can enjoy the same advantages as employees without a disability. 

The Workers’ Compensation program, overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor, provides a very succinct explanation of accommodations that a disabled employee may trigger. These are:

  • Modifying equipment, or even acquiring new equipment
  • Altering testing and training materials and policies
  • Restructuring job flow and performance metrics
  • Altering existing facilities to make them handicapped accessible
  • Altering work schedules
  • Providing readers and/or interpreters (for the blind or deaf)

Our thanks to Bethany for this excellent explanation of how workers’ compensation works for employees who have been injured on the job and are unable to work. 

 

General Safety Issues

NEW ADA STANDARDS FOR SWIMMING POOLS

Probably not too many of us are using swimming pools now, unless they are heated, but this guest article will give many persons something to look forward to next spring.

New ADA Standards for Swimming Pools

The following information was sent to us by Guest Author, Jeffrey Cross, SEO/SEM Specialist at PoolCorp.  It refers to new regulations regarding public swimming pools’ access arrangements according to the Americans with Disabilities Act.  We appreciate this news, which comes into effect in 2012.


Affected Facilities

Those affected are commercial swimming pools that are state and local government owned facilities, parks and recreation departments, state run schools and universities, as well as hotels, health clubs, private schools and community centers. Private residences, apartments and condominiums are not affected unless they sell memberships to the public or actively rent out their units to the public similar to a hotel. Nature made swimming locations like beaches, lakes, and rivers are not affected.

Means of Access

The newly adopted regulations define five permitted means of access for swimming pools. Primary means of access include swimming pool lifts and sloped entries. Secondary means of access include transfer walls, transfer systems, and accessible pool stairs.  Access requirements differ depending on the size of the swimming pool. For large pools with over 300 linear feet of pool wall, two means of access are required. One of these required means must be a primary access. For smaller pools with under 300 linear feet of pool wall, at least one means of access must be provided, and it must be primary.

Tax Credits

Tax credits are also available for adapting to the new regulations. If a facility has annual revenue under $1 million or has fewer than 30 employees, it can receive a tax credit up to $5000 to help offset the cost of the accessibility modifications.

Resources

 

Jeff Cross, SEO/SEM Specialist

POOLCORP, 109 Northpark Blvd., Covington, LA 70433

Note: Thank you, Jeff, for this information.  Many persons who could not access a swimming pool, either public, or at hotels, can now look forward to the same recreation that others enjoy.  Those who have or have had family members or friends who are disabled know the many obstacles they must overcome, and this will be one less.   

General Safety Issues

NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH

Congress designated each October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).  The effort to educate the American public about relating employment to disability began in 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October of each year “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.”  Later, in 1962, the word “physically” was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities.  Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to “National Disability Employment Awareness Month” in 1988.

 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) makes it illegal for employers with 15 or more employees to discriminate against individuals with disabilities in any position of employment.  The law doesn’t force companies to hire individuals with disabilities, but it does require that companies give them a fair chance.  Employers are required to make reasonable accommodations upon request, once persons with disabilities are hired, unless the accommodation would cause an undue hardship.  

A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a job or work environment to enable a  person with a qualified disability to perform essential job functions.  One example is if a qualified disabled person uses a wheelchair, and is unable to access his/her desk comfortably, it is only right to ask the supervisor to make an adjustment.  Reasonable accommodations include:

  1. Modifying work schedules
  2. Acquiring or modifying equipment
  3. Restructuring a job
  4. Making existing employee facilities usable by employees with disabilities
  5. Providing qualified readers or interpreters 

The ADA also prohibits discrimination in all employment practices, conditions, and privileges of employment, including:

  • Hiring procedures, recruitment, and job application
  • Benefits, compensation, advancement, training and other conditions and opportunities
  • Dismissals, layoffs, and other ends to employment

There are between 40 million and 50 million Americans with physical or mental disabilities, meaning that 1 in 6 people in the U.S. have a disability.   More and more people with disabilities desire to enter the workforce because they are capable to do the job for which they are applying.  Many of our workforces include older workers, who may be required to do tasks that could eventually cause them to fall into the category of having a disability, simply due to aging.

Companies should encourage their employees to work together productively and safely by ensuring awareness of certain accommodations  that their fellow workers may require.  Motivational posters encourage workers to perform their duties safely,  as a team.  We shouldn’t have to be reminded that everyone deserves a chance to be part of that team.

Our government has required special accommodation be put into place to help the handicapped, such as automatic doors, special parking spaces, signs written in braille, public restrooms with extra space for wheelchairs, and other ways to enable them to function more easily.  It is only right that our disabled Americans have every opportunity to enjoy life and be a part of a vibrant workforce.  Think about our soldiers, who have served this country.  Some are able to pick up where they left off, as their job is open for them; however, there are thousands who have been unable to find jobs because of injuries they suffered.  They deserve the opportunity to have a chance for a fulfilling  job.