Los Angeles workers with disabling medical conditions have the right to request accommodations from their employers. Both California state statutes and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protect the right of workers to ask employers for support that makes employment possible while living with a disabling medical condition.
Many workers seek industry- and position-specific accommodations, such as altered job tasks and assistive technology. Others may require simpler accommodations that can apply to a broad range of different jobs, such as a first-floor work environment, a wheelchair ramp or proximity to an accessible bathroom.
In recent years, work-from-home accommodations have become relatively common. Do workers subject to a return to office order in California have the option of pursuing remote work as an accommodation?
Remote work rarely causes company hardship
Employers who are subject to the provisions of the ADA and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) generally need to grant reasonable accommodation requests from employees who have disabling medical conditions. Many professionals who onboarded in recent years may have accepted a job on a remote or hybrid basis due to companies decentralizing to operate efficiently in 2020.
Now that return to office orders are increasingly common, many Los Angeles professionals who may not have previously disclosed their need for accommodations to an employer might find themselves worried about asking to continue remote or hybrid work. Workers who have disabling medical conditions and a recommendation from a licensed professional for remote work as an accommodation can typically ask their employers to allow them to work from home.
For an employer to legally refuse an accommodation request, they typically need to show that the request creates an undue hardship for the business. Remote work arrangements for employees already doing their jobs from home are unlikely to meet the relatively high standard for an undue hardship for an employer.
Especially when an employee already has a track record of success working remotely for the company, refusing to let them continue to do so due to a blanket RTO order could be a violation of that worker’s rights. The refusal to accommodate workers can actually constitute disability discrimination.
Workers concerned about protecting their careers may want to consult with a disability discrimination attorney. Fighting back against blanket return to office orders and denied accommodation requests can help people protect their careers despite their medical limitations.