Recent Changes In Employment Law
By Arlene F. Klinedinst, Esq.
Vandeventer Black LLP
January 2009 was an important month for changes in federal labor and employment law. This article will summarize three January changes in federal employment law, but is not intended to substitute for legal advice.
First, as of January 1, 2009, recent amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") became effective. The ADA applies to all employers with 15 or more employees, and prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the workplace. ADA also requires covered employers to reasonably accommodate disabilities of applicants and employees, unless such accommodation would create an undue burden on the employer or pose a direct threat to the health and safety of the disabled individual or co-workers.
The ADA amendments overrule several years of case law which defined "disability" narrowly. The new amendments to ADA broaden the definition of "disability" to afford protection to more people. Currently, an impairment will be qualify as a "disability" under ADA if it substantially limits one or more major life activities, which now include not only walking, sleeping, eating etc., but also major bodily functions such as respiration, circulation, reproduction, etc. The amendments also clarified that a disabled individual's use of aides, medicines, or other devices will not be considered in determining whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity, except for ordinary eyeglasses in the case of sight-impaired individuals. The amendments further specify that an impairment which is episodic or in remission also will be considered a "disability" if it substantially limits an individual's major life activity when it is active.
Another change to federal employment law occurred on January 16, 2009, when the new regulations under the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") became effective. Those final regulations were issued on November 17, 2008, by the Department of Labor ("DOL"), and are extensive. They can be found at the DOL's website,
www.DOL.gov.
Only employers with 50 or more employees are covered by the federal FMLA. To be eligible for FMLA leave, employees must have been employed by a covered employer for at least one year, must have worked at least 1250 hours during the previous 12 months, and must be employed at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.
One of the most important changes in the new FMLA regulations is the issuance of new FMLA forms for various types of FMLA leave. Those forms are available from the DOL website and are recommended for notifying employees of their FMLA rights and documenting employees' FMLA leave.