MightyRecruiterThe Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is a comprehensive piece of legislation that protects disabled people from discrimination. If you are part of a workplace that has 15 or more employees, the content of the Act will determine how that workplace is run, particularly if the workforce includes disabled individuals. It’s essential to stay abreast of the legal specifics that protect against disability discrimination, and there are several ways you can go about doing that.
Get Advice from an Attorney
Even if you understand the basics of the ADA, you still may run into situations when it becomes necessary to get clarification from a person who has ongoing familiarity with laws related to disability discrimination and how they may affect you. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a strong business relationship with a trustworthy attorney.
As needed, you can consult with that person to ensure you do not make any costly blunders that could cause you to face a disability discrimination lawsuit. Keep in mind, the ADA gives protection to people even if you have not hired them yet. Therefore, it’s essential to understand the respective laws even if you are just potentially doing interviews with people who may be disabled.
Read About Your Obligations Under the Law
It’s also smart to read reliable resources that explain what your responsibilities are in terms of the law. For example, some people think the ADA requires hiring managers to give preference to people who have disabilities, but that is not true. Employers are always free to hire the applicants they choose, as long as the hiring decisions are not based on the presence or lack of disabilities.
Furthermore, Title I of the ADA discusses how employers must provide reasonable accommodations for disabled workers. The key word to keep in mind is “reasonable.” Although you are required to make your best efforts to adapt a workplace so a disabled person can perform tasks there, you are not lawfully obligated to go through undue hardship or bear extraordinary expenses to put the accommodations in place.
Attend a Conference with Peers
Whether disability discrimination and the associated laws are topics you deal with on a daily basis or you’re just eager to expand your knowledge, consider pursuing continuing education opportunities by going to a relevant conference. In recent years, the Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General and University of California at Berkeley are just two of many organizations that have held informative sessions for people who wanted to learn more.
Besides the obvious advantage of learning from experts while attending such gatherings, you also potentially have chances to network with peers and discover that problems you’ve faced that seemed impossibly uncommon actually happen quite often. Discussing issues with professionals who are in your line of work allows you to get insight about how to best tackle certain issues while being mindful of laws.
Invite a Lecturer to Come to the Workplace
You can also think about asking a professional to give a talk in your workplace about disability discrimination and the law. Having catered food and scheduling the discussion to occur during a lunch break may encourage more workers to participate. This event not only provides a way to expand your knowledge, but it conveys to your workplace that disability discrimination is a topic worth knowing about.
It may also be possible to find a person who is disabled plus has expertise about the law. That way, the individual is able to bring factual information plus first-hand insight.
Now that you know several ways to broaden your understanding of disability discrimination and the law, hopefully you’ll feel more confident about staying abreast of developments. The more current your knowledge is, the better you should be able to assist workers of all ability levels while being aware of laws.
Legal Disclaimer
The content on our website is only meant to provide general information and is not legal advice. We make our best efforts to make sure the information is accurate, but we cannot guarantee it. Do not rely on the content as legal advice. For assistance with legal problems or for a legal inquiry please contact you attorney.