HR Dive series: The ADA at 30
Today, HR Dive published a special series looking at the Americans with Disabilities Act based on its 30th anniversary July 26. The entire story can be found here , and is reprinted below.
The ADA at 30: A landmark civil rights law that still has room to grow
The Americans with Disabilities Act turned 30 years old July 26. It's a law that despite somewhat abstract mandates remained relatively predictable for years.
At 18, it received a major facelift. Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act, redefining core terms like "disability" and directing employers to focus on accommodation and nondiscrimination efforts, rather than doctors' notes and eligibility requirements.
The amendments did just that, bringing accommodation into the spotlight. Now court opinions evolve each year as technology and medicine advance, with "reasonable" being defined by the circumstances at hand. This has meant an increase in discussions about telework as an accommodation , for example. And as much as those forces reshaped the landmark civil rights law, disability employment was in for another major shake-up: the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The experts we interviewed for this series say the crisis has, in some instances, leveled the playing field for workers with disabilities. More job applicants than ever are being interviewed from afar, for example, and jobs once thought to require on-site presence are now done remotely.
Related is the ongoing debate about whether the law requires web accessibility outside its employment mandates. In a Q&A, an original sponsor of the ADA told HR Dive a resolution to that question is the law's next frontier; the inability of many individuals with disabilities to access online services during a pandemic has made the need particularly acute, he said, and "something needs to be done legislatively."
Former Rep. Tony Coelho on his fight for the ADA and the future of disability rights
When Coelho entered the job market, all the applications featured a box marked "epilepsy" one he had to check. It was then that he "started to realize there was a problem.
How COVID-19 improved accessibility for job seekers with disabilities
The expansion of remote work and recruiting technology is leveling the playing field at work, experts told HR Dive.
Will pandemic-driven telework set a precedent for ADA accommodations?
Facing COVID-19, employers had to abandon normalcy in many ways. The courts will likely recognize that, one source told HR Dive.
Invisible disabilities top of mind for employers amid return to work
Employers have questions about accommodating employees with high-risk underlying disabilities and mental health impairments, an ADA expert said.
Continue reading at https://www.hrdive.com/news/the-ada-at-30-a-landmark-civil-rights-law-that-still-has-room-to-grow/582214/
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