There is, however, no requirement to create a light duty position or any other position under the ADA ( EEOC, 2002).ĭoes an employee have to be 100% in order to return to work?Īccording to informal guidance from the EEOC, 100% policies may violate the ADA. This is because reassignment to a vacant position and appropriate modification of an employer's policy are forms of reasonable accommodation required by the ADA, absent undue hardship ( EEOC, 1996). If an employer reserves certain jobs for light duty, rather than creating light duty jobs as needed, the employer must reassign the employee to a vacant, reserved light duty position as a reasonable accommodation if (1) the employee cannot perform his current position because of his disability, with or without a reasonable accommodation (2) the employee can perform the light duty job, with or without a reasonable accommodation and (3) the reassignment would not impose an undue hardship.
Reassigning an employee with a disability to a light duty job might be required as a reasonable accommodation, depending on how an employer's light duty program is designed. Is light duty required as a reasonable accommodation? The term disability means: (1) a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, (2) a person with a record of a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, and (3) a person who is regarded as having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. The ADA does not require an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee with an occupational injury who does not have a disability as defined by the ADA ( EEOC, 1996). To be protected by the ADA, the employee must meet the definition of disability. Is an individual with a workers' compensation injury protected under the ADA?Īn individual with an injury covered under workers' compensation may be protected by the ADA, but is not automatically protected. Generally, "light duty" refers to temporary or permanent work that is physically or mentally less demanding than normal job duties ( EEOC, 1996). The term "light duty" has a number of different meanings in the employment setting.
These questions involve: what is light duty, whether an individual with a workers' compensation injury is protected under the ADA, whether light duty is required as a reasonable accommodation, whether an employee has to be 100% to return to work, whether an employer has to remove functions from an individual's position as an accommodation, and what types of accommodations may be possible for returning an employee to work after an injury or illness. JAN often receives questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and light duty.