Tips for accommodating injured worker who can no longer lift

Q         We have accommodated an employee’s workers’ compensation restrictions for a year and just learned he has a permanent 20 percent loss of use that prevents him from lifting, which is an essential job function. Can we let him go?

A   Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), you must provide a reasonable accommodation for a qualified individual with a disability unless doing so would result in an undue hardship to your company or a direct threat to the employee or others. Notably, the process is an interactive one. That is, you must communicate with the employee about what types of accommodations may be needed to allow him to perform his essential job functions.

Since lifting is an essential function, you’ll need to discuss what accommodations might be needed to permit him to perform the job. As part of the process, you’ll need to consider the viability of continuing the accommodation you’ve been providing for the past year.

To stop the current accommodation, you’ll need to articulate why it is now an undue hardship to your company or poses a direct threat to the employee or others. Given that the accommodation has been offered for a year, the standard might be difficult to meet. You also will have to consider other possible solutions, which could include: