Accommodations for Employees

This webinar will explore employee accommodations required under the revised Supreme Court guidelines on religious accommodations, the recently implemented Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Considerations include whether accommodations are reasonable. Reasonableness depends on the conflict between the employee’s work duties and the requested accommodation. Employers can also avoid accommodations that cause an undue hardship on the employer. Undue hardship is measured by the employer’s specific circumstances, such as the size of the workforce and resources.

• Understand which employees are entitled to accommodations, including who is a religious employee or an employee with a
• disability, as well as the coverage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
• Compliance with the duty to interact regarding employees’ need for accommodations.
• Understand the scope of what accommodations are considered reasonable for employers to provide.
• Recognize that some requests for accommodation are unreasonable and not required.
• Appreciate the burden on an employer to establish undue hardship.
• Develop an ability to train supervisors and managers on the provision of accommodations.

• Definition of who is a religious employee under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
• Definition of who is an employee with a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Coverage of employees under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
• What is required of employers under the duty to interact regarding employees’ need for accommodations related to religion, disability, or pregnancy?
• What accommodations are considered reasonable for the employer to provide, including leave, transfers, and reassignment of nonessential duties?
• What accommodations are unreasonable and not required, such as removal of essential duties, creation of the position, or unlimited leave time?
• How an employer can establish undue hardship through proof of limited employer resources and personnel or interference with operations or mission.
• What employers should include in policies regarding the duty to accommodate employees?
• How accommodation claims are resolved through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and litigation.

Employers face liability if they fail to provide reasonable accommodations to employers. Changes in judicial standards and new legislation open employers up to even more liability without an understanding of what constitutes a reasonable accommodation, and how undue hardship can be shown.

Human Resource professionals, upper-level managers, and attorneys seeking more knowledge in the area of employment law.

Stacy Hickox teaches for the Business College at the University of Maryland and for the professional development unit of Michigan State University’s School of Human Resources & Labor Relations. Until August 2022, she was an Associate.

Professor in the School of Human Resources & Labor Relations at Michigan State University, where she taught in both the human resources & labor relations master’s program and in the undergraduate human capital & society program. Her research focused on barriers to employment for people with disabilities and a criminal record, as well as ways to address harassment and bullying in the workplace. Stacy has also practiced law with private law firms and Disability Rights Michigan.

Stacy attended the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University and received her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.