Human Resource Blog

What if my employer cannot provide work accomodations for my disability?

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I am a nurse’s aide working the 11-7 night shift in a longterm care facility. I am on a 20 pound lifting restriction due to pregnancy. I know from observance that when other employees are on weight restriction my employer ensures that they do not work alone, and that all precautions are taken to ensure that the restriction is respected. However, due to understaffing of aides on the 11-7 shift, I am almost always working alone, and consideration of my restrictions by my employer fades in comparison to the enormous amount of work needing to be completed.
While working alone, it is impossible to abide by the restrictions set forth by my physician. I’m of the impression that I am a burden to my employer because of my demands of accomodations that are provided on other shifts. I also understand that we are shorthanded and that the work still needs to be completed.
My question is: Is my employer still responsible for accomodating my weight restrictions even if (they claim) the resources are unavailable? (in other words, is my employer legal when they say “too bad, so sad.”?)

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that an employer make reasonable accommodations for workers with a disability. However, employers are not required to make any accommodation that is an “undue hardship” on the employer.  What is “a reasonable accommodation” on the 7 am to 3 pm shift may well be an “undue hardship” on the 11 pm to 7 am shift. In your case, because of pregnancy, you have a restriction that you  cannot lift more than 20 lbs. If there are normally 2 or more employees on the shift, that restriction might not be a problem – a reasonable accommodation would be for the employer to have the other worker do the heavy lifting temporarily, while you handled some of that employee’s tasks. However, if there is often or always just one employee on the shift, it’s an “undue hardship” on the employer to hire a second person on the shift, simply to accommodate your restriction.

While you think of having only one person on the midnight shift as a temporary staffing shortage, the employer might well think of it as the new staffing standard and  a necessary cost-saving measure. You could certainly request transfer to another shift as a reasonable accommodation. If that’s not possible, the employer would have little choice but to let you go on unpaid leave until you are physically able to resume your duties. The employer is making one mistake here — because you have a restriction they cannot accommodate on this shift, they should probably not permit you to work until you can provide a doctor’s note that you are physically able to do so.