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I am advertising for an office services assistant. The job requires some lifting. Is it okay to say it that way in my newspaper ad? It's not very specific, but the detail is unwieldy. Is it better to
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ADA and Print Ads
posted at 6/11/1999 3:13 AM EDT
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Posts: 48
First: 6/11/1999 Last: 4/13/2001 |
I am advertising for an office services assistant. The job requires some lifting. Is it okay to say it that way in my newspaper ad? It's not very specific, but the detail is unwieldy. Is it better to not put it in at all, and to give the applicant a copy of the job description with specifics in the interview?
Thanks. |
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ADA and Print Ads
posted at 6/11/1999 4:34 AM EDT
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Posts: 833
First: 6/11/1999 Last: 8/23/2001 |
Without any real basis on which to base my paranoia, I'm a little uneasy with posting a office assistant's job with a lifting "requirement" -- it may be a peripheral function, and a sharp employee advocate will pick up the ad very quickly to state that you posted it that way to discourage those with physical disabilities.
If it was my ad, I'd leave it out, and then, if there was a problem encountered, allow the applicant to see the function and describe how they would manage it. You may also want to reexamine whether lifting is merely something that is entailed in the way the job is currently being done, or if it's actually an "essential function". |
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ADA and Print Ads
posted at 6/11/1999 8:45 PM EDT
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Posts: 38
First: 6/9/1999 Last: 10/26/2004 |
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employer must provide qualified disabled individuals with reasonable accommodations. That means an employer cannot discriminate against persons who are able to perform the essential functions of the position with a reasonable accommodation. What is an essential function will generally be left up to the employer to decide (although I could see cases where an employer's designation of a job function as "essential" could be rejected by a court). Whether a particular accommodations is "reasonable" or not is something that can and will be second guessed. The better part of valor here, in my humble opinion, would be not to include that in the ad. If you have a problem with people applying for the job and not being qualified for it, then prepare a job description which lists all of the essential functions of the position and ask the applicant on the application whether s/he can perform the essential functions of the position with a reasonable accommodation. (This is an option, although not my preferred option.)
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ADA and Print Ads
posted at 6/14/1999 2:26 AM EDT
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Posts: 48
First: 6/11/1999 Last: 4/13/2001 |
Thanks to both of you for your responses.
Mark, you mentioned showing the essential functions in the interview as being not your preferred option, but I didn't quite catch what you felt *was* the preferred option. Was it Jim's suggestion to describe the work that would be required and ask how they would handle? We have a department with 3 staff members and a supervisor. Each of the staff jobs requires part time on the phones and part time doing mail, supplies, etc. We have a storage area in the basement and there is no elevator. Someone taking boxes to that area would have to carry them. There is also the normal lifting that goes with delivering packages to offices, unloading boxes of supplies, etc. It's easier to see how the latter tasks could be done some combination of ways, but not going to storage area. Would the DOL expect that a reasonable accommondation was to restructure the jobs so one person does *not* have to do this? Thanks, Carol |
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ADA and Print Ads
posted at 6/14/1999 5:16 PM EDT
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Posts: 38
First: 6/9/1999 Last: 10/26/2004 |
Well, let's be clear about one thing. What is or is not an essential function of the position or a reasonable accommodation will depend on all of the facts of a given situation. You will be able to figure that out by reviewing the facts of the matter in detail with a lawyer familiar with the ADA. What I was suggesting was that every job assignment cannot be an essential function of the position. All job descriptions include the phrase "other duties as assigned." Clearly, that cannot be an "essential function" because you cannot even articulate it. If a function is an essential function, then if the applicant or employee cannot perform that essential function with a reasonable accommodation, you have the "right" not to hire or to remove the person from the job. But, in some cases, the reasonable accommodation will be to change the job so the person stays employed. This is an affirmative action obligation on the part of the employer and, other than affirmative action requirements under race and gender discrimination statutes (which are being challenged every day now), I am aware of no similar affirmative action obligation imposed under the law.
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