The Job Accommodation Network: Making JAN Part of your HR Toolbox. Presenters: Dr. Beth Loy and Kendra Duckworth. TAJAUNA: Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to the webcast, the Job Accommodation Network, making JAN part of your HR toolbox. My name is Tajauna Dunning and I'm with the Disability Law Resource Project at ILRU, your sponsor for today's event. I will be moderating today's webcast and voicing your questions to the presenters. Before we get started, I want to encourage you to send any questions you may have during this webcast by clicking the submit question button at the bottom of your RealOne Player screen or simply address it to webcast@ilru.org. Questions will be posed to the presenters upon request. If for some reason time does not allow the presenter to answer all questions asked, a response will be provided to you via E-mail. Additionally, if anyone has technical difficulties today, please call us at (713)520-0232 and dial 0 for the operator. This number is both voice and TTY capable. I would also like to note that a link has been set up on the same page that you use to connect to this webcast that contains survey questions for you to answer at the end of this webcast. This survey is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the webcast programs we provide. This information will be used as part of the reporting requirements to our funding agency, the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability, Rehabilitation and Research. Please take a moment to assist us by completing this survey. All responses are confidential. As previously mentioned, today's webcast is on the Job Accommodation Network, Making JAN Part of Your HR Toolbox. It is being presented by Beth Loy, Ph.D, and Kendra Duckworth. Dr. Loy is a clinical assistant professor at West Virginia University, a Human Factors Consultant with the Job Accommodation Network, JAN. As a consultant, she specializes in ergonomics and accommodating individuals with motor impairments and providing information on the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, Beth is JAN's webmaster. She has a specialization in social policy and has a master's degree in economics and industrial and labor relations and safety management. Kendra Duckworth is also a Human Factors Consultant for the Job Accommodation Network. As a consultant, Kendra specializes in providing accommodation information for individuals with psychiatric disabilities, cognitive and neurological impairments. She is a graduate of West Virginia University with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and a master of science degree in rehabilitation counseling. She began her career as a rehabilitation counselor for the West Virginia Division of Rehabilitation Services. Since 1991, she has provided consultation to employers, rehabilitation professionals and people with disabilities about work site accommodations, The Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ms. Duckworth also serves as a national speaker for the Job Accommodation Network, and has served as an instructor for the job accommodation course offered at West Virginia University. And with that, Beth and Kendra, I turn the webcast over to you. BETH: Well, good afternoon, everyone. And thank you for inviting us to participate in today's webcast. We have been to several previous webcasts and found them to be very informative. So hopefully Kendra and I can also be informative today. We're excited to have the opportunity to be involved in your series on HR issues. Now, hopefully most of you have heard of the Job Accommodation Network, but maybe you'd like to know more about our services and how we assist those in the human resources field. We're always happy to work with HR professionals as we get some of the most challenging situations to solve. The title of our presentation today is the Job Accommodation Network: Making JAN Part of Your HR Toolbox. And I have here today with me Kendra Duckworth. KENDRA: Thank you very much. BETH: Kendra and I have worked together now for -- how many years? KENDRA: Ten. BETH: It's been ten years, a whole decade. Our plan for today is to spend about half of our time giving an overview of the services we provide. And we're going to discuss some of the more challenging accommodation questions. So Kendra has been with JAN for nearly 15 years, and when I say that we are partners in crime, I truly mean this. I've been with JAN for ten years and I would imagine those who have heard us together before find (Inaudible). My goodness, Kendra, we've been around the disability field for quite some time. KENDRA: I know. I started at the Job Accommodation Network in 1992 just as the ADA was about to be implemented and a lot of things have changed about our service system, but a lot of things have stayed the same. When I started at JAN, there were only six consultants and one computer. Now we've doubled in staff and we each have a computer. BETH: I think we have more computers now. KENDRA: I think we do and there was a time when we didn't have enough furniture for everybody and now everybody has a desk and a chair to go with it. A lot of things have stayed the same at the Job Accommodation Network. We're still a service of the U.S. Department of Labor and their new office under the Office of Disability Employment Policy. We're still located in Morgantown West Virginia and West Virginia University and we've been here since 1983 when JAN was born. We provide information to callers throughout the United States, even though we're located in this one office in West Virginia. We still provide information about jobs and job accommodations, the Americans with Disabilities Act and for people with disabilities, we provide information about small business and self-employment options. For employers, we also provide information about other D. O. L. related programs such as EARN, the Employer Assistance and Recruiting Network. EARN is also a network that connects quality employers with skilled job candidates. So we can help if you're looking for an employee and we can also help you once you've hired somebody with a disability. One of the best things about our service is that it's still a free service. Since we're heading up on tax time, we're still totally free and very easy to use. You can call us on our toll free line or you can E-mail us or you can provide -- or find information on our website that Beth keeps up to date every day. So we're still cheap and easy to use. And Beth is a perfect example of things that are cheap and easy here around the Job Accommodation Network. BETH: Well, Kendra, thank you for that introduction. There are some other words that Kendra and I like to use to describe our services. While both of us were born and raised in West Virginia, and we've watched JAN grow over the last decade to a somewhat different, but also very consistent service. So, first, our services are personal. Meaning, we answer our phone. Also meaning that we discuss accommodation situations one on one with each caller. Our services are often prompt. We are aware that accommodation information needs to be provided quickly so we try to get answers for our users the same day that we talk with you or if we need to research your question, as soon as we can find the information. JAN's staff is courteous to callers. We want callers to call back. We want you to feel free to call us about any accommodation issue, even very controversial issues. We feel that we are knowledgeable. This refers to the longevity of our staff. Like Kendra and I mentioned, we have over 25 years of experience in the disability field. Professional refers to the education level of consultants. All of us have at least a masters degree and several of us have other advanced degrees in business and law and some other education-related fields. And many of us, like Kendra, have traveled all over the United States to speak with our users. Kendra does a lot of traveling and speaking for our service. And finally, our services are confidential. We never discuss one caller's case with another caller or release any information about a caller. To give you an idea about the volume of services we provide, JAN receives over 32,000 accommodation inquiries per year. And that has stayed pretty steady over the last few years. Although we are getting more and more questions about E-mail, most people still call us. So when you call JAN, an information assistant will ask you a few questions so she or he can direct your call to the right consultant. And Kendra, do you want to explain our routing and team system and how that's developed over the last few years? KENDRA: I sure will. When I started at JAN, we didn't even have a complicated phone system. Our system was there was a phone on your desk and when it rang, you answered it and addressed the question on the other end of the line. Because we got so many calls, we finally developed a system that works for us. So we use several of what we call information assistants who will answer the phone and ask you several questions about what is the nature of your call. Is it a call about the Americans with Disabilities Act or a call about an accommodation request? What is the nature of the disability or limitation of the person, either yourself that you're calling about. And we do this because we want to route your call to the most effective and most knowledgeable person in that area. So we have four different teams. We have our sensory team that deals with issues related to hearing and vision and other sensory issues such as allergies and fragrance sensitivity. BETH: Respiratory, HIV/AIDS, diabetes. KENDRA: Yeah, those kinds of things. We also have the cognitive team of which I'm a member of. And we provide information on accommodations and disabilities ranging from brain injury to learning disabilities to psychiatric impairments, attention deficit disorder, epilepsy, anything that's related to the brain or the neurological system. We have the motor team of which Beth is a member of, and they kind of get everything else. They deal with all the arms and legs, all the motor- related issues such as paraplegia, MS, carpal tunnel syndrome, ergonomic-related issues. BETH: And if it's related to something that moves on your body, it usually comes to us. KENDRA: Right. And if it happens in your head, then its comes to me. And finally, we have our small business team, and that is a small team that provides information to callers who are interested in starting their own small businesses. And they can provide information about the resources available for them. So we provide information to callers on a variety of accommodation issues. We can provide information on assistive technology, so if you're looking for a specific type of chair or speech recognition system -- anything of a product that's going to accommodate somebody, we have information that can accommodate that person and we're happy to provide that to you. But our service isn't limited just to product-related accommodations because I deal with a lot of hidden disabilities and disabilities that aren't necessarily accommodated by purchasing something out of a catalog. We can provide information on other types of accommodations and I'm going to talk more about this in a little bit. But things like providing flexible schedules and adjusting supervisor methods. So we have a lot of information on accommodations that you're not going to find in a catalog somewhere. BETH: While working for the motor team, JAN maintains a database on over 10,000 products because many of the calls we get involve questions about assistive technology and other products. These vary depending on the situation. We may get a request for a chair that goes from sitting to standing. Even a product to identify colors or maybe cellular telephone amplification which I just recently purchased for my parents. And like Kendra does, they continue to ignore me, but at least I know now that they can hear me. So other questions that involve accommodations that aren't AP-related like Kendra mentioned could relate to modifying work schedules, work from home, job restructuring, changing management styles and even managing personal means in the workplace. Almost all of our accommodation questions from HR professionals involves the Americans with Disabilities Act, and some of the toughest accommodation calls involve issues you may not think of off the top of your head. And Kendra gets many of these types of questions from HR professionals. Probably some of the most difficult cases we've ever dealt with involve one of these issues, don't you think, Kendra? KENDRA: Definitely. There are a lot of issues that I deal with that you just can't describe on a daily basis, but I handle a lot of issues related to absenteeism, inappropriate or erratic behavior and even lately, what do I do if someone threatens to commit suicide in the workplace. So we have people here that are skilled in handling those situations and providing you with some solutions. BETH: And we even get some really difficult questions that cross over disability areas. Depression happens a lot with motor-related cases such as cancer, back conditions -- so sometimes those can be very difficult, too. As Kendra and I were putting together this presentation, we were debating the most frequent questions we get from HR professionals. Some of the broad categories of ADA issues we deal with from an HR professionals call cover the why, the how and the what of the accommodation process. So why should employers respond to an accommodation request? Well, as many of the listeners today probably already know, legally, employers with 15 or more employees are required to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Also, many states have similar laws that apply to employers with less than 15 employees. In addition, evidence that the employer made a good-faith effort to comply with the ADA may reduce the amount of damages against the employer if the situation ends up in a legal judgment. Evidence that the employer engaged in an interactive process can protect an employer from having to pay punitive and compensatory damages. So a lot of times, it comes down to money. But from a practical standpoint, responding to an accommodation request can lead to a successful accommodation. And Kendra and I have seen it happen many times over the years. And this can provide a significant benefit to employers. You're saying, well, how can this save me money? How can this save my bottom line? Well, a successful accommodation can save an employer money by retaining qualified employees. How many people out there listening today have spent time recruiting new employees after an experienced staff member leaves? Successful accommodation can save money by saving the cost of training new employees. How much effort do we put into a good training process? I know for Kendra and me, it takes years to learn this type of job. KENDRA: It does. It takes at least a year to train a new consultant to the point where they're really effective. BETH: A successful accommodation can also save workers' compensation or other insurance costs. How many people have dealt with rising workers' comp and insurance costs? For example, say we have an employee with a back condition who is out due to an injury. The best way to increase our overall productivity is to get the person back to work and accommodations can get that person back to work. Now, let's not forget we can enhance workplace diversity. There is simply no down side to bringing diversity into a workplace and creating what we call a corporate culture that reflects our society. I think this is one thing that Kendra and I agree on, that this is just simply good business. One of the tools JAN now has available for your HR toolbox is that we've been doing some follow up research. JAN has been completing a follow-up survey with employers that have used us. We contracted with the University of Iowa Law Health Policy and Disability Center to conduct an updated study of employers, individuals and others who have used our services. So JAN consumers are being interviewed about the effectiveness of our service, the types of accommodations being implemented in the workplace, and last but not least the accommodation cost and effectiveness. Although our data collection is ongoing, these preliminary findings have been of interest to HR professionals who use JAN. The findings to date indicate that a broad spectrum of business types use our services. And the data revealed that accommodations have low cost and high impact. Now, these findings are summarized in the publication on our website. Our website, which hopefully many of you have visited, is www.jan.wvu.edu. The publication that I'm discussing is called Workplace Accommodations -- Low Cost, High Impact. Now, I'll just share four important policy findings with you. We have number one, employers want to provide accommodations so they can retain valued and qualified employees. Number two, employers are reporting that accommodations are effective. Number three, employers experience multiple direct and indirect benefits after making accommodations. And number four, the last but not least, and probably one much our most important findings, that JAN customers have reported is that these highly effective accommodations cost little or nothing. Now, employers who were interviewed said that slightly over half of the accommodations they had implemented following discussion with JAN had been at no cost. For those employers who did experience some cost, the median dollar value was $600. So this is good information. And Kendra, you're one of our specialists in low cost accommodations. Do you have some examples you can share with our listeners today? KENDRA: I do. It's easy to make accommodations that don't cost anything. Sometimes an individual just needs to be moved to a different work space. Maybe to an office with less noise and distractions or maybe to an office with a window. A lot of the people I've talked with just need more information from their managers. They need specific written guidelines as to what their goals are, what it is the employer expects of them and then it's helpful if the manager will meet with that person to go over those goals either weekly or at least every couple of weeks to make sure the individual is still on task. Changing supervisory methods -- sometimes it's better for a manager or supervisor to communicate with that employee using E-mail or over the telephone instead of face to face. Maybe because the individual has some sort of an anxiety problem. Flexible schedules -- allowing the person to take a break when that individual needs to take a break instead of when those breaks are scheduled can also be a no cost accommodation. BETH: I think that one of the things that has helped me is just color coding. KENDRA: I like color coding. Every time we get a new box of files in the office with new colors, I get excited. Color coding is a great way to accommodate somebody who has an organizational problem and they can use colors to identify different projects and to find things more quickly. Also, I'm a big fan of using Post It Notes with a list on it or making a checklist for somebody who has difficulty completing all the forms that need to be in a file. Those are easy ways to accommodate somebody. And they don't cost anything. They may just take some time from their manager or supervisor. I think one of the most common questions I get from HR people are -- what do I do when a person requests an accommodation? What am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to do at that point? Beth, do you have an idea? BETH: Well, one important aspect of communication we discuss with HR professionals is how they respond to an accommodation request. Now, you can respond to an accommodation request with an informal or formal process. But an employee needs to only use what we call plain English to make a request. In other words, an employer can't say, she didn't say ADA. So I don't have to accommodate her. Some organizations have a pretty laid back process; but the bottom line is whether it works. So how do you respond in a way that works within your organizational culture? When Kendra and I prepare for these presentations, one motto we try to stick to is we try to be ourselves. This means staying within our corporate culture. Other organizations may have a more formal approach. This approach often involves accommodation request forms, written procedures for processing an accommodation request, and even time lines for responding to the request. And the key to me is that we must determine if any effective accommodations exist, and we can do this either formally or informally, and we need to maintain consistency among our employees. And this is for legal purposes and also morale purposes. And we need to inform employees about what to expect once they make a request. This way, we can take some of the work out of the accommodation process. And there is one thing about it -- I'm all about taking some of the work out of my workday. And Kendra, what types of skills do you think are most important here? KENDRA: Well, number one, I think there has to be communication. There has to be a process of communicating from the individual with the disability to the person that they're making that request to. I talk to people every day who don't know how to request accommodations. So if your company has a formal policy on how to request an accommodation, you need to make sure that people know what that is so they know how to use it. So you have to have communication. You have to have honesty. You have to be willing to listen to the person and most of the time when I'm dealing with someone, they are disclosing they have a hidden disability and requesting accommodation after one or two things. Either they've been disciplined for absentee issues or inappropriate behavior or they are having performance problems. And sometimes you've got to take the emotion out of that situation. The intent of the ADA is to provide accommodations so that individuals can meet those performance standards so I encourage people to ask for accommodations before they have performance problems, but that's not always the reality. So just be aware that if this person has performance issues, they may be asking for an accommodation to improve that performance. And I think human resource personnel need to practice -- you need to have training on what are reasonable accommodations and what is the accommodation process that you can use. And JAN has a lot of information on our website available to assist you. We have -- we're getting ready to start our audio and web training series that begins March 14th, starting with how to -- dealing with etiquette in the workplace and several other topics throughout the year. So go to our website and check those out. We also have some new guides on -- practical guides to reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. We have employees guides and employers guides as well that can help you figure out what your role is and what it is you need to do in this accommodation process. We also have a JAN video, a DVD available if you need more information about JAN for you just want to put some faces to the voices that you hear, we're all in that. BETH and Linda have put together a Windows Media file on the ADA and substance abuse in the workplace and I encourage you to take a look at that on be our website. There is some really good information there and it's very confusing when you're dealing with the Americans with Disabilities Act and alcoholism versus other substance abuse issues. So they've got a really good product there that can help you sort those issues out. We have a tremendous amount of information in our accommodation and compliance series. So you name a disability or condition, we probably have a publication on it. Some of our newest publications deal with bleeding disorders. We also have information on how to request and negotiate a reasonable accommodation if you're an individual with a disability. My favorite part of our website is the JAN by Disability A. through Z. Literally, we have accommodations for every letter of the alphabet and can provide information about the condition and about accommodations. So there is a lot of training materials available for people to use and it's all free from our website. And don't forget -- how can I forget this. I have been working on this so hard lately. Or annual conference this year is in September and we're going to Boston and it's called How to Build an Inclusive Workplace. So registration begins today if you want to register for the JAN conference. We had tremendous success with that last year, so register early. Because last year we had a waiting list and there were people who were pretty upset that they weren't able to come out and hang with the JAN consultants in San Francisco. BETH: And one of the things that was interesting about that conference in San Francisco was that sometimes we have consistent themes within our trainings. One consistent theme seems to be that employers wonder what they should do when an accommodation request is received. Well, first and foremost, an employer should consult with the employee. KENDRA: Absolutely. BETH: What are the persons limitations? Is the person limited in a major life activity? What can the employee do without an accommodation? What job task is the individual having difficulty performing? Probably one of the most difficult calls I had recently was related to a mother who lost her son in a car wreck, and she is an alcoholic and she had relapsed because of the stress in her life, and the employer was calling wanting to know what types of accommodations this individual would need when she returned to work, but the employer hadn't discussed the issue with the employee. So in some situations, it may be an accommodation situation where the individual doesn't need any accommodations. Now, most employers will request medical information from what's called a medical care provider. We need to be careful that we only ask for medical information that is relevant, and we still get questions where employers seem to be requesting too much information. And other times, where maybe employers aren't requesting enough information. Now, we also suggest tapping into outside resources for advice. For example, one of the questions that we've gotten so much since 9/11 is about emergency evacuation. Well, the fact that the person with the disability, the employers should tap local emergency responders for assistance. So that's one example where employers can tap into certain public services that are available. Now, the employer needs to know what specific limitations are creating barriers to accessing the workplace, performing job tasks or benefiting from an equal employment opportunity. Just like this training. Now, once the employee's limitations and abilities are identified, the next step is to determine how they impact the employee's ability to perform their job. So it's very job focused. To make this determination, the employer needs to consider what specific job tasks, work environments, equipment or even policies are creating barriers. Now, a good job description is a great starting point for something like this, but it doesn't always provide all the information that we need. Often it's necessary to go beyond the traditional job description and consider other factors such as what equipment is used to perform a specific task? Where is the work performed? And why certain policies are being followed. Now, after the employer identifies the employee's limitations and abilities, and determines how they impact job performance, the employer is ready to consider accommodation options. And that could be removing structural barriers such as providing a curb cut. It could be modifying or purchasing equipment, maybe like Kendra mentioned earlier, an individual needs speech recognition to use a computer or what about a Braille display? It could be changing or eliminating a policy. Boy, the controversial fragrance policy questions that we get. KENDRA: People are very emotional about their fragrances. BETH: It could be such as providing a reader or interpreter, restructuring a job. Maybe fatigue results in a person needing to work from home one day a week, and reassigning to another position could be an accommodation. And these are only a few examples of the types of accommodations that might be effective. But finally, the last and perhaps most overlooked step in the accommodation process is maintaining the accommodation once it has been implemented. JAN callers report -- I don't want to say frequently -- but they do report that once successful accommodations are implemented, the employer may later fail to maintain these accommodations. Maintaining the accommodations can be as simple as informing the employee who to contact should an issue develop or can be as formal as scheduling periodic follow up meetings with the employee. In addition, there should be a method to make sure accommodation information is effectively transferred to new supervisors or new managers. And I tell you what, we get that question probably every day. KENDRA: I do. And it never fails an employee will call and say, you know, I've always had this understanding with my boss that I could come in a little later because of my sleep issues or because I have to rely on public transportation because I don't have a drivers license. And that's always been okay. And now I have a new supervisor and now I'm getting written up every time I'm five minutes late for work and the new supervisor doesn't know anything about this person's disability or the fact that he may have been accommodated prior to the new person coming on. So it's important again to have communication. KENDRA: I think communication, too, can help when you have a personality conflict. It can help when you're new on the job. It can help with new situations in the workplace, and one of the things that we do is provide some information that we consider to be communication tools. And again, not to toot our own horns too much, but I guess that's what we're doing here anyway, is that we have so much information available on our website. Beth is our webmaster and they are continually updating the website and adding new information and all of the consultants here are responsible for writing and putting together publications on different types of disabilities from fibromyalgia to multiple sclerosis. We also have our searchable online accommodation resource which allows you to ins tense search our database for specific types of products for a specific type of limitation and it takes you through a step by step process. So if you're not able to talk to a JAN consultant or if you're working late into the night and we're not available to help you, that's something you have access to from our website. BETH: As webmaster, I do try to monitor the website pretty closely, and one of the things it enables us to do is look at what trends are happening. So we kind of try to sit down and look at trends and developments that we see in our specific specialty area. Some of the trends in development that I see in my areas recently have involved issues such as aging, emergency evacuation and early return to work. Now, today, as many of you may know, more than 35 million Americans are over the age of 65. And that number is expected to double over the next 30 years, and that will include -- KENDRA: You and me. I look forward to growing old with you, Beth. BETH: Yes, it should be fun. And this will continue as the baby boomers age. So whether for monetary or social reasons, many individuals continue working longer and I imagine that will be us as well. Experience, reliability and even knowledge for many years to come. And have been a lot of studies related to older workers and they really bring some consistency and ability to the workplace that I think are irreplaceable. Now, the second area receiving a great deal of attention is emergency evacuation. 9/11 brought about a lot of media attention related to the safe evacuation of people with disabilities, and we have been working on this for quite some time before this tragic event happened. And we have a great deal of information on this topic to assist you with developing what we call an inclusive evacuation plan. And as always, early return to work has been of great concern to most segments of our population, and this is because workers' compensation costs continue to rise. It's probably the most frequent accommodation calls to JAN involve back conditions, and material handling is in excess of 30 percent of all workers' compensation claims for musculoskeletal injuries and something as basic as a lifting device can help an employer prevent injuries on the job and get people back to work who have had injuries. We provide a lot of information, for example, on how to lift, how to move, and how to distribute materials. And that's just a few examples from my area and I think Kendra has a few she'd like to share. KENDRA: I do. Lately, I've noticed I've been talking to a lot of individuals about starting their own small businesses. For many of the people I talk to, their conditions have progressed to the point where they may not be able to work full time or for a typical 40 hour workweek or they may live in a rural community where their employment options are just not as many as in other areas. So self-employment is a big issue. And not just self-employment, but I always talk to people who are talking to their employers about working from home or telecommuting at least part time or full time. A lot of employers don't want to talk about that, but it is an excellent way to accommodate somebody who has a disability and especially when you're dealing with fatigue issues or stress issues. I know every time I take a job in Washington D. C, I can understand why people are stressed out from their commutes to work. So working from home can be an easy and fairly easy way to accommodate a person. I've also been working on issues related to veterans and individuals that are returning from deployment from the current war. We're working on publications related to posttraumatic stress disorder in veterans and how to handle that in the workplace, and the posttraumatic stress publication we have really evolved over a number of years. We've been dealing with accommodation questions related to PTSD since even before the 9/11 event happened. I know one of the first calls I got about PTSD involved the Oklahoma City bombing. So we've dealt with these issues over a number of years and can really kind of pinpoint trends. So far, I haven't received too many calls dealing with the Katrina hurricane and the issues related to that, but I have a feeling once people get settled and things become more normalized and they get back to work, I believe we'll get more questions about that as well. BETH: And I think that pretty much sums up the presentation that Kendra and I have for you today. And we'd like to open it up for questions if our audience has any questions for us. TAJAUNA: Beth and Kendra, you guys are doing such a great job, we actually only have one question that has come in. And it is an individual who asked if an employee requests an accommodation and has a hidden or cognitive disability that cannot be seen, does the supervisor have the right to request documentation of the disability or is that against the law? BETH: No, you're right. The supervisor does have a right to request medical documentation if the disability is not obvious or if the accommodation need is not known. So when I talk to managers, that's usually the first step in that accommodation process is to get medical documentation. So you know what this person's condition is and you know what the limitations are. KENDRA: and we have a really good publication about medical inquiries that kind of breaks that down step by step as to what you can ask and we even provide a sample form that managers and employers can modify to meet their own company needs. So we have a couple of things available and in the employer's guide that we have available on our website, that also provides a good breakdown. I think that's a good resource to download. BETH: Definitely. You know, something I've also noticed when we're talking about medical I inquiries and especially the publication that we have is a form, it's so helpful because I talk to a lot of doctors that don't know exactly how to provide that information to an employer. Many doctors are concerned about giving too much information or saying the wrong thing or not providing enough information. So that form really helps the doctor focus on limitations rather than more medical-related types things or symptoms. And it also helps clarify issues related to major life activities that are at least my area of expertise that you may not see on many medical forms such as concentration, memory, sleeping, those kinds of things. KENDRA: Any other questions come in? TAJAUNA: Nope, that's it for now. BETH: Well, I have a question for Kendra. See if quey stump each other today. Well, I was curious since it is wintertime, at least here in West Virginia -- what types of cases have you dealt with related to seasonal effect tiff disorder? KENDRA: It is that time of year and I have dealt with quite a few of those, mostly coming from Portland or Seattle where they're getting all that rain. We actually have an article on our website in the consultant's corner in the archives that talks about accommodations for seasonal effective disorder, things such as lighting and producing a light box, using exercise for an individual that may have difficulty dealing with depression and this time of year. Although it's supposed to be warm today, but I haven't seen the sun here today. I'm ready for another trip to Florida. BETH:It's been warm but cloudy -- warmer. KENDRA: Beth, I have a question for you. What's the most difficult type of call that you deal with? BETH: Goodness -- and you know we didn't rehearse these. I guess probably the most difficult call for me usually involves an individual with cancer. A lot of us have very personal relationships I should say with disability, and my mom has gone through breast cancer and colon cancer, and I guess the most difficult ones are those. Those are the ones that I still carry with me. Some nights when I go home, and sometimes those are very complicated issues where maybe the person isn't going to be able to return to work and they are just hard. KENDRA: Several years ago I talked to a woman who was actually in the hospital receiving treatment for cancer and she was worried about losing her job and we were talking about the ADA and I just kept thinking this cannot be the most important thing to you right now. BETH: One of the positive aspects of that area is that we are getting more calls from people with cancer because treatment has gotten so much better and people -- people continue to work and many individuals -- I don't know if many is the right word -- but there are some individuals who don't need any types of accommodations to return to work. They may just need flexible scheduling around their treatments. So there are some good things that have come along with those calls as well. Let me turn that one back on you, Kendra. As a person with a burn injury, do you find it hard to take those calls? Do you carry those calls with you like I carry those cancer-related calls? KENDRA: Those calls for me are actually easier than some of the other issues I deal with. We don't get a lot of calls on burn injuries and some day when I get some time to do some research we'll figure out why that is. I'm sure that people with severe burn injuries are returning back to work and there are issues related to that. I have firsthand knowledge and I really know what I'm talking about in that sense. The hard els calls for me usually deal with - - subjects related to parents who have children with disabilities and they need accommodations for their children and although we provide a lot of information and can deal with accommodations in educational settings and testing and those kinds of things, unfortunately the Americans with Disabilities Act doesn't always afford a parent with a child with a disability the right to ask for accommodations. So sometimes it's just really frustrating to help parents find answers that they need when there may not be a lot of resources available to them. I mean, it's not an easy job, but it's a fulfilling job. BETH: and I think there is also some frustration when we get insurance questions because you'll have people who need their insurance but may not qualify to receive their insurance anymore. And they are going to be on leave from work without insurance and those are difficult, too. KENDRA: Those are difficult questions. BETH: but I tell you probably the most frequent call we still get is related to parking. KENDRA: That's true. BETH: We get more calls related to parking than I could have ever imagined. KENDRA: Who knew. I know, that's such a hot topic for employers, and if we're answering calls related to that this must be a bigger issue that we don't talk to so many people, but parking can be a real emotional issue for both employers and employees. BETH: People don't like to have their parking spaces messed with. TAJAUNA: Whenever you have an employer call and say that they have someone who has requested parking or special parking and they don't ordinarily provide that, what do you guys say to the employer? How do you guys work that out? KENDRA: Well, providing a parking space or an accessible parking space can be a reasonable accommodation that you may have to provide to an employee with a disability. Where that becomes complicated is if the employer doesn't provide parking to any of their employees, then they may not be obligated to provide parking for a disabled employee. So it may depend on what their actual parking situation is; but most common questions are issues that we get are that there just aren't enough handicapped parking spaces for the number of people who need them. BETH: I think what makes that parking situation so complicated is that the way that the ADA is interpreted through the courts is by a circuit. And you'll have different parts of the country that interpret things differently and the Court of Appeals for the second circuit -- and this included New York -- ruled on a case called lie ons and this case was Lyons vs legal aid society. And what this case essentially said was that employers might have an obligation to provide parking beyond what is provided for similarly situated employees. And as a result, employers in that circuit, which again included New York, Vermont and Connecticut, may have to consider the accommodation requested that you mentioned. So it kind of makes it complicated when you have one circuit interpreting something differently from another circuit. And until that goes to the Supreme Court, and I wouldn't be surprised if parking wasn't one of those issues that went to the Supreme Court, we won't have a national precedent to go by. TAJAUNA: So if an employer then does not provide parking for its employees, and an employee has requested one, and so the employer cannot now provide a parking space as an accommodation, what would you then suggest? BETH: if the employer cannot provide a parking? TAJAUNA: They don't provide parking spaces for any of their other employees. Say, for example, individuals who work downtown or something such as that. BETH: Well, if there is absolutely no way to provide parking whatsoever and there wouldn't be any obligation to provide that benefit of employment -- like I said, if you're in that circuit you may still have to provide that benefit of employment that you wouldn't provide for other employees, but there is absolutely no way to do it, then there is no way to do it. KENDRA: but we would suggest other situations or solutions such as maybe changing this person's schedule so that instead of having to come to work at eight o'clock, they come to work later in the day when the parking is more likely to be available or traffic is less heavy. Working from home during part of the time -- you know, again, it depends on the situation, but there may be other solutions to that problem. TAJAUNA: Okay, so you do work through this with the employer? KENDRA: Absolutely. We'll brain storm with the employer. We'll talk to each other and come up with just every possible thing we can think of. TAJAUNA: We have some other questions that have come in. I have one that says employees are required to work eight hour days with one hour for lunch. And employee with a disability and uses public transportation seeks schedule changes as an accommodation to take a shorter lunch hour by 15 minutes so they can leave 15 minutes early at the end of the day and safely be at the bus stop one block a way when the bus arrives. The supervisor says no. But the work schedule that ends on the half hour -- it says 4:30 -- would you please comment regarding ADA law and any other reasonable accommodation? Working from home is not an option. So they are saying that the supervisor has said that they cannot leave 15 minutes early. They have to leave at 4:30. BETH: and the reason why they can't leave is because of state laws that require them to -- that gives them an hour lunch? TAJAUNA: Eight hour day with one hour for lunch. This is in the state of Illinois. BETH: We run into that a lot from allowing employees to work what they consider overtime. KENDRA: Certainly a schedule change is a form of reasonable accommodation. My first question is does the employee have a disability? That would be the first question. And is the public transportation schedule modification related to the disability? If there is what we call a next us or a link -- BETH: Between person with disability limitations and this request, certainly a schedule modification is considered a reasonable accommodation. Now, the next step is, is it going to cause the employer an undue hardship to change those schedules? If you're violating state law that could very well be a hardship. If the supervisor just doesn't want to do it because the supervisor feels like maybe if they indict for one person, they're going to have to do it for the rest of the employees, and that's something different. So it would come down to whether it's a disability, whether there is a link and then there whether is a hardship. KENDRA: and other accommodation issues such as whether it's possible for this person to start 15 minutes earlier and then leave 15 minutes earlier in the afternoon? TAJAUNA: So in this type of a situation, would you - - would JAN work with both the employer and the employee at the same time? Or would you send the employer back to talk to the employee? How does that work? KENDRA: We'll do whatever the parties want us to do. BETH: Oftentimes I do conference calls with the employer and the individual -- you know as long as we're all working together that's fine. And sometimes this happens is I'll have a confidential conversation with the employee and then later on that afternoon, the employer will call and I'll be talking to that person. You know, I can't disclose to the employer that I had already talked to his employee earlier in that day because of our confidentiality rules. It would be something we'd have to work out between the two of them before we could do that. KENDRA: But certainly we have done it. TAJAUNA: Another question we have is we have an individual who asks how do you or who continues to see that the accommodations continue to be used and the worker does not get lost? KENDRA: I think that's the worker's responsibility primarily. Hopefully you've got a manager that's on top of, you know, what's going on in that unit. In my situation, usually those questions don't come up until there is a performance issue and that's when people start wondering about did accommodation and whether it's effective. I always encourage individuals to be proactive and to let people know when you're starting to struggle or have trouble or if you need something else. BETH: And from the other side of it, I always try to encourage managers to be good managers, whether it has to do with disability or anything else, just continue to communicate with your employees and let them know that they can come to you with these issues. TAJAUNA: Okay. All right. The next question -- I heard rumors that for profit companies could benefit from tax incentives by hiring people with disabilities? Is this true? And are there any financial incentives for for profit and nonprofit companies? KENDRA: Yes, there are. We have information on tax incentives for private employers. Beth, you want to describe those? BETH: Sure, one of them is called a disabled access credit, and there is more detail on our web side about the disabled access credit. Primarily, this is for architectural barriers. From is also architectural and transportation barrier removal deduction, and there is also the work opportunity tax credit, but I don't think that has been renewed yet for this year. KENDRA: That's something we need to check on. BETH: And sometimes what the government does is they will renew that and then they will apply it backwards. But as far as budget negotiations and everything goes, the work opportunity tax credit is usually late in being finalized. KENDRA: And also for nonprofit organizations and federal groups, the Department of Labor has a program where they connect college students with disabilities to employers who are looking for internships. So you can get the use of a free intern for a period of a summer and kind of try somebody out in a situation or in a work environment and it's a good experience for the individual, the student who gets good work experience and a good fit for the employer to gets free help and that information is available on our website. And that program is called workforce recruitment program. BETH: Or WRT for short. But if you go on our website and search on tax, you will see the tax incentives publication pop up. TAJAUNA: Can you gives give your website again slowly. I understand that the captioning wasn't clear when you mentioned it the first time. BETH: It is www.jan.wvu.edu. KENDRA: And JAN is J-A-N. TAJAUNA: Another question is how would you advise a person who is slewing their sight and is afraid to request accommodations due to fear of losing her job? This is a big question that even our office gets quite a bit. KENDRA: Wow. Well, I deal with this issue a lot with -- not so much vision impairments, but individuals who have epilepsy and they don't want to disclose that basically until they have to. I guess my advice is always to be honest and open with your employer and to realize that you're entitled to accommodations and accommodations should make doing your job easier, not harder. Especially if you have a vision problem that is deteriorating, that's going to become obvious after a point in time and it's better to deal with the accommodations now and to get those things in place before your performance starts to be affected by that and to wait until you absolutely have to tell your employer. BETH: And I probably take a little bit of a different perspective on this. When I talk with employees who call and have this issue, I say make it easy for your manager. Make it easy for your employer. Have your information together on what accommodations you need, what's happening, how you -- how much you enjoy your job, how you feel that you're being a productive employ year and you provide all that information in an informal or formal setting where it just makes it a lot easier for the supervisor or the employer -- KENDRA: Do your homework and give that to your manager or supervisor. TAJAUNA: Okay. Another question is do people with disabilities have to pay for accessible parking in private parking lots? KENDRA: If everybody else is phage for the parking space, then yes, you have to pay for that space, too. If nobody else is paying for a parking space, then no, you shouldn't have to pay for that space. TAJAUNA: Okay. Can you talk more about the reasonable accommodation process? How would you describe the responsibilities of each in the negotiation and the time lines for providing the accommodations, et cetera? BETH: Well, as far as time lines, there are no explicit time lines other than in a reasonable amount of time. And, you know, that leaves a lot up to interpretation, I would say. There is nothing that says two weeks or 30 days, but certainly as far as time lines, you say what is a practical time line for this employer to respond. Like say an individual requests a schedule change. If it's six months later after the person has requested this schedule change, that's likely too long. Now, as far as the accommodation process and who is responsible for what parts of that, you want to take the first, Kendra? KENDRA: The first step is the employee's responsible for disclosing that they need something and for asking for an accommodation. So, again, employer's need to make sure they have a process in place to do that and that people know what that process is. Once you've done that, then it's the individual's responsibility with the disability to ask for the accommodation and to make it known. BETH: I mean the first part of this, if you need to define your situation. In other words, what's the employee requesting? What can the employer provide? The next step typically is that employers do request medical documentation. KENDRA: Right, and I encourage them to do this. They have a right to a limited amount of information. BETH: And from the medical information you can find out specifically if the person has a disability, what the limitations are, if the condition is progressive, if the limitations are stable, and if there is other documentation that's needed. So then it would be up to the employee to provide that medical documentation. KENDRA: Right, and to do that within a reasonable amount of time. TAJAUNA: Okay, well what about though if the employee -- because you had mentioned earlier that employee should know what they need for the accommodation, so on and so forth. So the employee goes in to their employer and says this is my disability, here is my medical documentation and this is what I need and the employer comes back and says, well, we don't think that's reasonable. And then the employee then calls you. BETH: Right. KENDRA: Right. TAJAUNA: So how -- can you let the listeners know how is reasonable defined? Who gets to define that? BETH: That's a good question. Reasonable is difficult to define, but it is the employer's right to determine what's reasonable for them. An employees need to know that they're entitled to reasonable accommodations that are effective. It doesn't always mean the exact accommodation that they asked for. That's why this is a negotiation. That's why you need to go through the accommodation process because the employer may have an alternative idea to accommodate this employee that is just as effective and more reasonable for that employer to provide. And if that's the case, the employer has the right to choose that accommodation. KENDRA: And I get that a lot of times with ergonomic chairs. An individual goes in with a specific type of ergonomic chair that is extremely expensive. The employer says we're not providing that chair, here is another chair that meets your limitations. Well, usually we get the call -- sometimes from both parties. If the lower cost chair meets the employee's limitations that the employee provided medical documentation on, then the employer has the right and can use that right to choose that lower cost chair. BETH: That's right. TAJAUNA: Okay. What would you advise or how would you advise a potential applicant what to do whenever they confront an illegal question on an application? We get that question quite a bit. An individual will be filling out an application and on the application it asks do you have a disability? And they'll ask how do we answer that? Boy, that's a good question and we get that a lot. Beth and I probably have different answers for that question. BETH: Probably. KENDRA: I usually encourage people to not answer questions that are illegal questions to ask such as do you have a disability. And just simply state next to that that -- I would write this is a violation of the ADA or just ignore it altogether. What I do not encourage people to do is to lie on the application. That's a whole different situation. So my advice is not to answer questions that you know are illegal to ask. BETH: No, I think we agree on that one. TAJAUNA: All right. Actually this one is a comment and this was from an individual whose question you had answered and they say -- or she says thanks for answering my question regarding sustaining employment. This meets the need for provider training for the consumer. And she signs it Mary Ellen in Boston. So thank you, guys, very much. Another question is are you seeing any trends in the types of accommodation questions employers are asking JAN? BETH: Well, I think Kendra and I addressed some of those. A lot related to emergency evacuations -- KENDRA: Working from home, is that really an accommodation. I get a lot of questions about issues related to leave in the family medical leave act and the ADA and how that all works together. And we actually have information that we can provide about that. I talk to a lot of employers who want to accommodate employees, but they are not really sure how to do that and that's why they're calling us. BETH: And activities of daily living. We get questions on providing personal assistants in the workplace -- KENDRA: And I deal with issues related to violence and threats in the workplace a lot, too. My answer is usually very simple to those questions. If somebody is threatening violence on somebody in the workplace, what do you do? Well, you call the police is what you do. BETH: And we still get quite a few questions related to leave, how much leave do I have to provide? Do I have to give indefinite leave? And is there a definition of disability? I think that Toyota case related to carpal tunnel syndrome was really poorly interpreted by the media because a lot of media outlets said that well the Supreme Court has ruled that carpal tunnel syndrome isn't a disability. Well, that wasn't what the case said, but that's what a lot of the media essentially focused on. So that has been very confusing. Sometimes the media interprets things I would say inaccurately. TAJAUNA: So if you get calls from individuals who, let's say, are newly diagnosed with carpal, how would you then -- how would you like talk them through as to what they can do and, you know, especially since it is one of those -- could be considered a gray area? Well, the first thing I usually do is I say request an accommodation, how limited they are and a lot of times we sit down and discuss the definition of disability. And a lot of times by the end of the conversation the employee makes a judge meant call as to whether he or she believes there is a disability involved. One of the reasons industrial type injuries like carpal tunnel is difficult is because there is often a workers' compensation element to those cases and that kind of complicates things. We usually discussion definition of disability. Does the person know what the person needs? With accommodations, can the person continue to do that position or is it just better if the person goes ahead and asks for reassignment? Does the person know of a position that's becoming available that is either equal or lower that they feel would meet their long term limitations? Sometimes we will discuss reassignment as well. TAJAUNA: Earlier in the webcast you -- both of you touched on the topic of multiple chemical sensitivity and how a lot of people do not want to part with their fragrances. We get quite a few calls on those types of situations where someone doesn't want to give up their perfume, but the office has asked them to do so. How do you -- how do you guys handle those types of situations? We handle that a lot and I say your manager hasn't asked you not to wear perfume, your manager is asking everybody not to wear perfume. In most cases it's not specific to one employee. I mean, an employer can set this as policy. It's just like any other dress code issue, and we said it in our workplace. We have a fragrance free workplace and we have sent people home who have come in wreaking of channel and ask them to come back or take the day or not to do that. Some employers are hesitant to enforce those types of policies, but I mean, an employer can do it. An employer can send an employee home. An employer can talk with the employee and an employer can separate the two employees and sometimes the chemical sensitivity is going to be a disability. Other times it may not be. And sometimes people don't like to hear that, but that's what the courts have said, and an employer is going to have to make a judgment call on how he or she wants to handle the workplace. In our workplace, we have a lot of respiratory impairments and we choose to be very strict about this type of issue. And it's not just personal fragrances, it's potpourri baskets, once you start the policy and implement it, it's fairly easy to keep it going. TAJAUNA: What about -- have you had a situation where you have an employee who has requested because of a sensitivity that -- to their supervisors that a no fragrance policy be instated and the employer refuses? Yes, we've had that situation. It usually -- for me, when I'm discussing it, it usually goes back to the definition of disability. If the person feels that he or she has a disability and this type of accommodation is not being implemented, then the individual sometimes has to file a complaint and of course that complaint with go to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It would be nice to say, okay, everyone with fragrance sensitivity is covered by the ADA, and every employer who employs one of these individuals has to have this type of policy. But this is just one of those issues where it sometimes becomes very personal even between one employee and another employee. That's true, and sometimes the way to handle that situation is to even move the individual to a different area or to, you know, just try to separate that individual from particular individuals who may be wearing fragrances using air purification systems and those kinds of things. Even working from home if that's necessary. And you can have that if someone smokes as well. And people get very upset when somebody tries to control their off the job activities. So the person goes to lunch and has a cigarette and comes back in to the workplace and the individual may have some remnants of smoke on clothes or hair and it could really trigger some type of respiratory attack from someone in the workplace. So an employer is going to have to make a judgment as to how strict the employer wants to enforce this type of thing. But it's just like a dress code. We also get this question associated with food allergies such as popcorn. Some places don't allow employees to bring microwave popcorn or use peanut- related food in the office because somebody may have a deadly allergy to those things. Latex as well. Latex is another one. TAJAUNA: Okay. You guys also touched upon an individual who had lost her son and was an alcoholic. Do you -- in regards to reasonable accommodations, if you have an employer who calls in and says I have an individual who is an alcoholic and what do I do? Now, I know in the particular situation you were talking about before, you said go back and tubing to the individual, but can you be more specific as to some ideas? Well, when it comes to alcohol, my first question is has the employee requested an accommodation? Because a lot of times for people with alcoholism, it would be leave in order to attend AA meetings or to undergo some type of treatment. The next question is has it affected the job? This can become a tricky situation and because if the alcoholism or use of alcohol hasn't affected the workplace, then the employee is likely covered under the ADA and the employer would have to consider accommodations such as schedule modifications. If there has been an incident on the job where alcohol has been brought into the workplace or alcohol has affected a particular part of the employee's essential functions, then you have a different situation. Like, say, an employee gets a DUI. The employee has to drive as a part of his job; does the employer have to accommodate that type of situation? Well, it's an illegal use of a substance and the person is likely not qualified to perform that essential function anymore and that would be a different situation as far as the employer's obligation. If an employee comes to you and says I'm having difficulty with one of my children and I have relapsed and I need treatment. Just because somebody has a DUI doesn't mean they are alcoholic and doesn't mean that they have a disability. So, again, that's another good reason to ask for medical information. If I just got a DUI and it's a one time thing, that's not an ADA issue. TAJAUNA: Okay. Another question is regarding service animals and it asks what if an employee is allergic to animals and another employee has a service animal. How would you suggest an employer handle this? We actually get this a lot. And we have a consultant corner on that. That's right. So we have a publication related to this. Now, is there one size fits all answer to this? No. No, absolutely not. I mean, you start by not picking one disability over another. In other words, you try to mediate the situation. It may come down to where the two employees just need to be separated. Maybe one employee needs to be on floor vs another employee on another floor. And you have a no dog zone in parts of that building where that individual doesn't need to go. There may be other ways to accommodate the individual who has a service animal. Again, it's going to depend on what their disability is and what they use that service animal for. Because this is a controversial part of the ADA. I mean, the service animal is an accommodation for the workplace. It's just like any other accommodation like parking or buying a piece of assistive technology. And service animals oftentimes are seen as a part of an individual. So this can get kind of tricky. And it can get very heated, but you start by trying to mediate the situation and -- because it is allergy related and it's often from the dander of the dog, is there a way to separate the two? TAJAUNA: Okay. I have someone who is asking if you can give a brief overview of leave under FMLA and the ADA and point to any resources an employer can access to develop policies? You know the EEOC has some really great information on that specific subject and on the EEOC website, which is EEOC.gov, they have a publication on reasonable accommodation and undue hardship. And one of the chapters in that publication is specific to leave, and it outlines kind of describes the requirements under FMLA and your requirements under ADA. I can tell you in a nutshell is not everybody who asks for time under the family medical leave act has a disability because that applies to treatment of conditions or adoption or birth of babies and those issues are not disabilities. So you may be entitled to time under FMLA and not be entitled to time under the Americans with Disabilities Act. We also have a publication on the family medical leave act and all that information is available on our website. Basically with FMLA you get 12 weeks. When FMLA runs, then an employer would have to consider leave time under the ADA. And there is no specific set number of days or months under the ADA. It is literally case by case. Oftentimes it depends on the individual's job and it may depend on the size of the employer or the type of work that the employer does. And how much leave does this person need in addition to the 12 weeks. Right, is it indefinite? If it's indefinite, it's likely going to be a hardship on the employer. If it's another two weeks or another month, it might be beneficial for the employer to consider providing that leave under the ADA. And once FMLA runs, there maybe changes in insurance benefits. TAJAUNA: Okay. We have a listener who is asking when is leave for medical or disability-related reasons considered as a reasonable accommodation beyond what is provided under the FMLA if applicable? Well, if you have a disability or a condition that is a disability, you're substantially limited in major life activity, then leave is a reasonable accommodation. And although leave is different from other types of accommodations, leave may enable that person to come back and perform the essential functions of the job. So a person with a disability may be entitled to leave as a reasonable accommodation. It's my opinion at least that employers should always consider additional leave under the ADA. If the employee needs it and if it is for a set amount of time. You consider it. You determine based on a committee, supervisor, human resources person, president of the company -- you determine how much leave you can give in that specific position until it becomes a hardship. You know, it may be six months, it may be six weeks, but you need to make that determination. TAJAUNA: Okay, the next question that we have is what would you say to an employee who is considered to have a history of illegal drug use and are protected by the ADA when they are in treatment or just out of rehab? Well, an individual who has a history of illegal drug use is protected from discrimination. This kind of situation -- I've seen this kind of situation get very complicated. If it's illegal use, the individual isn't covered. TAJAUNA: But if they've gone through -- they are in treatment and gone through rehab and just out and back in -- back into the workforce. Right. TAJAUNA: And they want to know what would you say to that individual so that in case -- I mean, do they -- are there any types of reasonable accommodations that maybe they would need or they could request? Was there accommodation just that they had their time for the rehabilitation? Well, it kind of depends on what employee needs. Sometimes an employee may request breaks. Let's say there is a very intense time or very stressful time in the workplace. The employee may need to take a break, may need to call a counselor, may need retraining off being out for an extended period of time. A lot of times it's related to leave time. You may have other situations where an employee has worked around certain types of drugs and may need a reassignment away from being exposed to that type of thing. TAJAUNA: So if the employer calls you and says I have an employee who was in rehab and is now back on the job, and I need to know what -- what can I do or what do I need to do for this employee? Well, you might not need to do anything. We say talk to the employee and if you know this person is coming back from leave, ask them how they are doing and what do they need? And that would be the first step. Does the employee need anything? The employee may be ready to go. TAJAUNA: That sounds simple enough. Okay. Well, we have about five minutes left and do either one of you have any close statements you'd like to make? Probably the only closing statements we have is that certainly we hope the information we discussed today was useful. We certainly appreciate being invited. You can call us any time. We are open 8 to 8 eastern time, Monday through Thursday and 8 to 7 on Fridays and we just hope that the information was helpful and if you have any other questions that we didn't get to, you can certainly E-mail us off of our website. And it is www.jan.wvu.edu. Again, we appreciate you having us. TAJAUNA: Well, Beth and Kendra, it has truly been great. You guys have definitely provided the audience with some terrific and important information and I thank both of you. I hope all of you listening have learned from today's webcast. Also note this webcast will be archived on our website which you can find by visiting www.ilru.org. Before closing, I would like to acknowledge the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research, NIDRR, who funds your host for today's program, the Disability Law Resource Project. And I would also like to thank the in-house staff at ILRU who without their efforts this webcast would not be possible. They include Marj Gordon, Sharon Finney, Dawn Heinsohn, Vinh Nguyen, Maria del Bosque as well as the technical expertise provided by Rob Dickehuth and our realtime captioner, Marie Bryant. I would also once again like to remind everyone that a link has been provided that contains survey questions used to evaluate the effectiveness of the webcast programs we provide. Your information and feedback is very important and all responses are confidential. We hope you will take a moment to please respond. I encourage anyone with questions on the Americans with Disabilities Act to call the toll free number at 1-800-949-4232. Where you will reach the ADA and I. T. center that is funded by NIDRR. Please join us for the next webcast Wednesday, March 22nd, at 2:00 p.m, central standard. The outcome of the Goodman vs Georgia case, Title II, constitutional issues, being presented by Jennifer Mathis. Again, thank you Beth and Kendra. I appreciate your time and thank all of you listeners for joining us and we hope to see you again.