Americans with Disability Act

Americans with Disability Act

The HR department is charged with ensuring that the right people are identified and adequately trained so that they can effectively and efficiently execute the mandates for various job positions being advertised. The law obligates HR departments to give equal opportunities to all people regardless of their gender, race, disability, religion and ethnicity. Therefore, when vacancies occur, then HR departments must advertise for the positions in a manner that does not discriminate against a group of people; for example use of a media like newspapers where blind people will not be informed.

The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) is a piece of legislation that is meant to protect persons that are regarded as being disable in one aspect or another from discrimination. Such disability encompasses physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an individual where such a record exists or where the disability is apparent. The act envisages persons who have physiological disorders or conditions, organic brain syndrome, specific learning disability, mental retardation, anatomical loss that affects major systems of the body and cosmetic disfigurement that is affects normal muscle tone, height or weight range (Vierling, 2004).

This law requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities that would be helpful in assisting them to comfortably carry out their duties. The act however obligates employers to make these adjustments to the point where they do not cause undue hardships (Acemoglu & Angrist, 2001). The law may require an employer to analyze the job to ensure that upon reasonable adjustments, a person with disability can comfortably do it. Such persons must be qualified for the jobs advertised and can do them with minimum adjustments. The work environment must also be considered to ensure that disabled persons can operate in it with minimum adjustments and that the benefits and privileges that are enjoyed by persons without disability can still be applicable to those with disabilities.

The law requires that sustainable limits of job performance be reasonably determined. Disabled persons might not be able to perform certain job tasks for an extended period of time or sustain the energy required for the tasks. Here undue hardships are considered so as to not discriminate against people with disabilities on criteria that are not reasonable. The law requires that reasonable accommodations be done in order to assist people with disabilities which may warrant a review of the tasks in a group of people so that they are reorganized in a manner that will allow the able-bodied to perform those tasks that the disabled may not without exerting undue pressure on them (Schall, 1998). The specific tasks of a certain job will determine the staffing mix. This may be followed by a comprehensive method of performance appraisal and rearrangement of all accompanying rewards, benefits and privileges to ensure that there is fairness and equality in distribution.

The ADA is a good piece of legislation that employers must embrace even beyond the parameters encompassed therein. This means that the employment should be wholesome to the person with disability to the extent that it allows for independent living, full participation, equal opportunities and self-sufficiency which all reflect an improved quality of life. Therefore, there must be a delicate mix of the person with disability, the workplace and the society at large.

 

 

References

Acemoglu, D. & Angrist, J.D. (2001). Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Political Economy, 109, 915–957.

Schall, C.M. (1998). The Americans with Disabilities Act—Are We Keeping Our Promise? An Analysis of the Effect of the ADA on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 10(3), 191–203.

Vierling, L.E. (2004). Proving disability remains difficult. The Case Manager, 15(1), 25–29.

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