Winter 2009 SBH Work Comp Quarterly
PDF FormatEmployment Law Update: Changes to ADA and FMLA
By Rebecca Watkins.
Congress has approved amendments to two major employment laws that recently went into effect.
The ADA Amendments Act amends the Americans with Disability Act and went into effect January 1, 2009. The legislature made significant changes to key parts of the ADA to overrule what it viewed as the erosion of protections caused by court decisions. The legislature barred consideration of mitigating measures in determining whether a person is disabled, with the sole exception of corrective lenses. It also generally emphasized that "disability" is to be broadly interpreted and include chronic or episodic disabilities, if such cause impairment when active. The amendments expand the definitions of "major life activities" to include both activities and bodily functions in two long, but not exhaustive lists. Finally, Congress instructed the Department of Labor to issue new regulations to clarify what is a substantial limit to a major life activity.
Additionally, the Department of Labor issued revised regulations pertaining to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). These became effective on January 16, 2009. In part, the new regulations implement the military family leave provisions under the National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Bush last February. These amendments allow up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a family member with military-related injury and 12 weeks for military-related extingencies. The regulations also made changes to FMLA regulations including: removing penalties against an employer for failure to designate leave as FMLA leave except in circumstances where individual harm occurred; not allowing "light duty" work to count against leave entitlement; clarifying an employee can waive or settle past FMLA rights; and clarifying both the definition of serious health condition and what notice must be given by both employers and employees.
SBH's employment group will present a seminar on these legislative changes on March 4, 2009 at the Salem Conference Center. Watch our website for details.
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