Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a US labor law, employers are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. Specifically, the ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants or employees.
When making hiring decisions and managing current employees, it's important that employers pay close attention to this.
From a management perspective, it can be difficult to identify employees with disabilities, as they are not obligated to reveal their disability and can remain hidden.
Regardless, if a current employee or a candidate who has applied for a position at your organization has disclosed that they have an episodic disability, it’s important that you manage this appropriately.
First off, it’s important to understand what an episodic disability is:
An episodic disability is marked by unpredictable periods and degrees of wellness, and it can be mental, physical, or both.
An employee with an episodic disability cannot predict when they will become ill and what the duration of their illness will be.
Examples of this include anything from multiple sclerosis, lupus, to mental illnesses like schizophrenia or anxiety.
The randomness of an episodic disability can make it more difficult for an employer to manage.
So - What can you do? How can you help?
Great questions.
Here are some useful tips to ensure you are managing your employees' episodic disability appropriately and with compassion:
Because an episodic illness can vary over time, it’s important as an employer to have a long-term perspective on the changes your employee might go through.
Sit down with them and develop an accommodation plan. This would include things like what the process will be to complete work during illness absences, who will be responsible, etc.
Due to the sporadic nature of an episodic illness, you will be need to be flexible. This could mean offering flex time so your employee can attend doctor’s appointments.
It could also mean accommodation in the form of technology, like providing a way so your employee can work from home at times, or even just better lighting or an ergonomic chair.
Rather than flex time, some employees with episodic disabilities may just want
support – someone to talk to.
Make sure to maintain regular contact with your employee and ask him or her if there is anything else you can be doing to help.
It’s important that the employee understand the process for requesting accommodation (e.g. who they talk to? How many sick days they get? Do they need documentation?)
In some cases, your employee may request that you respect their privacy wishes and not inform other employees of their disability. If the employee’s disability will not affect the performance or safety of other employees – keep their information private.
In other cases, particularly with illnesses that are more overt, your employee may be more open about their episodic disability.
If it’s not a secret – you should be educating yourself (and other employees) on episodic disabilities, and use it as an opportunity to inform everyone on your organizational policies on disability.
Not sure if your company's Policy Manual is comprehensive and covers disability? Check out one of our resources below and make sure all your bases are covered!