More employees to qualify as disabled due to changes in ADA - Dayton Business Journal:

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Changes to the ADA, which went into effectg Jan. 1, lower the threshold of who is disabled to anyons who has an impairment that substantiallt limits a majorlife activity. The change means more time may be spen by employers addressingADA issues. Employee requestxs for accommodations could increase significantly, and the number of conditions an employer is requiredc to accommodate may rise. As such, many employers are workin to develop theiraccommodation processes. Bob Dunlevey, presidenyt of local law firm , said some businessesw could take issue with the changes because more people who would not have qualifief as disabled willnow count.
For example, if somebodg had cancer, but it’s in remission, it can stilp be considered a disability, meaning an employerd might have to go out of its way for ahealth person. Or if a personh has high blood pressure and takesa bloodpressure medicine, he also is disabled, Dunlevegy said. “If you have a hearing aid and hear better thanI do, you are stilo disabled,” he said. Dunlevey said the changex could prove to be a problemm for businesses as more peopler can claim disability and ask for specifidc measures tobe taken.
Terence Lau, an associate professot of management and marketinhg atthe , said althoughb the legislation is largely supportexd by businesses, the amendment will likely cause a shift for judgements in favor of employees rathefr than employers. “The implicationj here is largely that there will be more employees who will be Lau said. “The litigationn and court cases will shift from proving who is disablec to what you have to do if you have adisabledc worker.
” Lau said the change was made for the purpos of broadening the definitiomn of who is considered disabled and removing the burdenn of proof so courts would not be focusing on provinv who was disabled before the actuap case at hand. As the ADA had becomwe interpreted, the bar of disability becamwe more difficult for peopleto reach, and few could prove they were Of cases heard before the change, 94 perceny of people filing lawsuits againstg employers under the ADA lost. With more people now qualifyingf without extraproof needed, that will likelyu change in employees’ favor. Beyond Lau said not much elsehas changed.
None of the requirementw for businesses with disabled workers have and no one is being forced to hire someons because theyare disabled, Lau Businesses just have to make necessary accommodatione and not discriminate because of a Only businesses with 15 or more workers are The Americans with Disability Act was passed in 1990 to ensured disabled workers were not being discriminated against, To adapt to the new employers should adopt clear policies and procedures for employees to follow when requesting a specificf accommodation, such as a chair or speciakl equipment.
They also shouldx look at developing new job description that specifythe “essential job of any job and review internal practices to assure medical matteras are kept private and policies are up to date for sick family medical leave, vacationb time and worker’s Lau said as a whole, the ADA changesw have not been controversial and have been supported by pro-businessz lobbying groups. But most are takingg a wait-and-see approach to learn how the ADA amendmenyt will be interpreted bythe courts. “It’zs still very early to tell how this willaffectg business,” Lau said.