5 Hr Virtual Seminar on The Interplay of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and Workers’ Compensation

Why Should You Attend:

The interplay of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Workers’ Compensation laws has been referred to as the “Bermuda Triangle of employment law.” It’s imperative for employers to recognize and understand the interplay of the ADA, FMLA and Workers’ Compensation laws. Employers have legal responsibilities to comply with these laws or face significant violations for noncompliance. Employers have ethical and moral responsibilities to ensure employees receive the benefits and protections these laws provide.

Each of these three laws have different purposes. The ADA prohibits discrimination. The FMLA sets minimum leave standards. Workers’ compensation laws provide for payment of compensation and rehabilitation for workplace injuries and minimize employer liability. Participating in this webinar will provide participants with a clear understanding of each of these laws and how they interact with each other, incorporating that information into company policies, and the ability to communicate those policies to employees.

Legal compliance can get confusing when some legal regulations seemingly overlap or even seem almost contradictory to implement. This is the case when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and Workers’ Compensation intersect. The intersecting of these three laws is complicated and open to problems if not handled correctly. ADA, FMLA and Workers’ Compensation have different goals and protections for employees, yet all three have provisions that may require an employer to give job-protected time off when the right circumstances are met.

It’s essential for employers to understand Federal and State laws with respect to these three laws in order to be compliant.

The majority of unscheduled and scheduled absences are related to the illness of employees or their family members. Under those circumstances, one, both, or all three of these laws may be involved. Violations of these laws may result in lost wages, back pay, reinstatement, retroactive benefits, compensatory damages, and punitive damages. In addition to employers’ legal responsibilities, employers also have moral and ethical responsibilities to ensure employees receive the benefits and protections these laws provide.

Areas Covered in the Webinar:

• Purposes of the ADA, the FMLA, and Workers’ Compensation Laws
• Understanding the provisions of ADA, FMLA and Workers’ Compensation law
• Employer coverage
• Employee eligibility
• Length of leave
• Medical documentation that may be requested
• Restricted/Light Duty
• Fitness-to-Return certification
• Employee benefits while on leave
• Job reinstatement
• Recognizing and analyzing the interplay of the ADA, FMLA and Workers’ Compensation law: What’s the risk for employers?
• Impact of State-enacted FMLA laws
• Enforcement authorities for each of the three laws
• Running afoul of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
• Situations in which employees have a sense of unfair treatment
• The areas of interplay to consider when managing employee absenteeism
• Tactics to keep employers compliant
• Determining employers’ responsibilities regarding medical and disability-related leave requests
• Considering medical leave requests through the lens of the FMLA, ADA, and Worker’s Compensation
• Protocol for employees requesting medical leaves of absence
• Intermittent or Reduced-Schedule leaves
• Impact of intermittent leave on performance standards
• Supervisors create liability
• Reviewing your organization’s leave policies and their implications for ADA, FMLA, and Workers’ Compensation
• Reflecting ADA, FMLA and Workers’ Compensation regulations in your policies
• Communicating leave policies to employees

Who Will Benefit:

• Senior Leadership
• Human Resources professionals
• Compliance professionals
• Payroll professionals
• Operations professionals

Diane L. Dee
President, Advantage HR Consulting

Diane L. Dee, President of Advantage HR Consulting, has over 25 years of experience in the Human Resources arena. Diane’s background includes experience in HR consulting and administration in corporate, government, consulting and pro bono environments. Diane founded Advantage HR Consulting in early 2016. Under Diane’s leadership, Advantage HR provides comprehensive, cost-effective Human Resources solutions for small to mid-sized firms in the greater Chicagoland area. Additionally, Diane conducts webinars on a wide-variety of HR topics for various training firms across the country.

Diane holds a Master Certificate in Human Resources from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and has attained SPHR, SHRM-SCP, sHRBP and HRPM® certification.

Diane is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners and the Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, Diane performs pro bono work through the Taproot Foundation assisting non-profit clients by integrating their Human Resources goals with their corporate strategies.

Topic Background:

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against applicants and employees who are “qualified individuals with a disability.” The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1973 (FMLA) sets minimum leave standards for employees for the birth and newborn care of a child, placement of a child for adoption or foster care, to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition, and for the employee’s serious health condition. And Workers’ Compensation provides for payment of compensation and rehabilitation for workplace injuries and assists in minimizing employer liability. While these individual policies are relatively straight-forward in their application in the workplace, understanding how these three laws intersect can be quite confusing.

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