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Tag: reasonable accommodation

Covid-19 Pandemic Related Caregiver Discrimination

August 26, 2022

For individuals with caregiving responsibilities (“caregivers”), the effects of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic go beyond work obligations. While navigating hybrid work schedules and tighter shifts, they must also find time for their duties to spouses, children, and disabled relatives. These individuals may live with children too young to receive the vaccine or relatives who are immunocompromised. As they juggle work and caregiving duties, they may face employment related discrimination because of these pandemic-related caregiving responsibilities. Fortunately, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides regulations to protect employees from workplace prejudice because of any caregiving obligations they may have to family members and loved ones. This article will summarize those guidelines to assist employers and employees in addressing pandemic-related caregiving discrimination. 

When Does Workplace Caregiver Discrimination Violate US Employment Laws? 

According to the EEOC, employers violate US employment laws when they discriminate against an employee/applicant with caregiver responsibilities based on their sex (sexual orientation and gender identity), pregnancy status, race, age, national origin, religion, disability, or genetic information. It is also unlawful for an employee to discriminate against an employee/applicant based on their association or caregiving responsibilities to people with disabilities or other protected characteristics (race, ethnicity, etcetera). 

What About Caregiving Triggers Discrimination Considerations?

Making employment decisions based on gender stereotypes is also illegal. For example, when the company fails to hire female applicants because they assume they would focus more on caring for their children and elderly relatives than on their work. Even further, EEOC regulations prohibit punishing female employees more harshly than male colleagues for absences or missed deadlines because of pandemic-related caregiving obligations. These regulations apply to discrimination against male employees, as well. It is unlawful to discriminate against male staff who are caregivers based on gender stereotypes that women are caretakers while men are breadwinners. Employers may not deny male employees leave or requests for a flexible schedule to attend to family members or loved ones infected with COVID-19 if they grant such requests to female staff. 

What About LGBTQ Employees and Applicants?

EEOC regulations prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ employees and applicants with caregiving responsibilities because of their sexual orientation. Employers may not deny requests for flexible hours or office leave from these individuals because of their gender identity if they grant permission to such requests from other staff members. They may also not require these employees to grow through rigorous procedures before granting their leave requests if other workers do not go through such processes. 

What About Discrimination Against an Employee With Caregiving Responsibilities Based on Race and Ethnicity?

Discriminating an employee with caregiving obligations because of their race, ethnicity, or national origin is illegal under EEOC laws. 

For instance, managers may not require black or Asian employees to go through burdensome processes to obtain leave or a flexible work schedule to take care of a relative, while others have their requests granted without such procedures. 

Employers may also not deny an employee’s requests for leave to care for a loved one from another country with a COVID-19 infection because a COVID-19 variant was identified in the infected individual’s home nation. 

Caregiver workplace harassment or discrimination based on citizenship or immigration status is also unlawful under Department of Justice laws. 

What About Discrimination Because of Caregiving Responsibilities to an Individual With Disabilities?

Under EEOC regulations, it is illegal to discriminate against an employee who is a caregiver to an individual with disabilities because of their association with the care recipient. Some instances where such discrimination can occur include refusal to: 

  • promote or hire an applicant/employee who is a parent to a child with a mental health disability that escalated during the pandemic because the applicant/staff would not show commitment to their duties due to their caregiving obligations. 
  • hire an applicant who has a spouse with a disability that has a risk of severe illness from COVID-19 infection because the employer wants to avoid the increased health insurance costs when the company includes the ailing spouse in its healthcare plan. 
  • include the applicant’s spouse in the company’s health insurance plan after hiring the applicant because of the disability mentioned above.

Reasonable Accommodation for Caregivers Under US Federal Employment Laws

EEOC regulations do not give US employees a right to workplace accommodations (telework, flexible schedules, overtime, etcetera) because of their caregiving duties. 

However, other US laws make provisions for such employee rights, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act. The act allows workers to request office leave for caregiving purposes. 

Other state and local laws also provide reasonable accommodations for workers with caregiving obligations. That said, employers can grant workplace accommodations to staff who are caregivers at their discretion, as long as they do so in a non-discriminatory manner. 

How Employees Can Respond to Discrimination Based on Covid-19 Related Caregiver Status 

Employees with caregiver status who are victims of discrimination because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, or affiliations with a person with a disability should report the harassment/discrimination to their employers. 

State, local government, and private sector employees should report discrimination incidences to the EEOC, state, or local government agencies responsible for employment discrimination. They may file their complaints with the EEOC within 180 in states without a local EEO agency and 300 days in states with a local EEO agency. 

Federal workers should report discrimination cases to their agency’s EEO office within 45 days. State and local government anti-discrimination agencies also have timelines for state and local government employees to report harassment cases. 

Employers and their staff can obtain further details on caregiver discrimination from the EEOC’s caregiver discrimination policy guidance, associated fact sheet, and employer best practices document. 

To sum it up…

US employment laws prohibit all kinds of workplace discrimination. If you’ve been a victim of workplace harassment because of your caregiver status, you can take steps to protect your rights and those of other employees. At the Law of Office of Sheri Oluyemi, we bring our experience in US employment laws to help employees get justice at work. Reach out to us today to request a free teleconference, and let’s safeguard your right to fair treatment in your workplace.

Exemption from Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccine for religious employees

July 2, 2021

According to the law and guidelines from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), it is possible for employers to require their employees receive a COVID-19 vaccination in most circumstances. This does not mean that all employers will make this a requirement, of course. But, they have the right to do so as a means to help improve the safety of their other employees, clients and customers.

Yet, there are certain exemptions from these mandatory COVID-19 vaccines that can be applied in certain cases. One of these is a religious exemption. Employee who demonstrate that their faith prohibits vaccination, would not automatically be not required to get a vaccine. The EEOC says employers are required to provide reasonable accommodation to these workers if their sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observance prevents vaccination. The only exception would be if the accommodation would create an undue hardship under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Understanding the Religious Accommodation Standards

As the vaccines are being rolled out, more and more employers will likely start to see objections to getting the vaccine. Therefore, it is important for employers, as well as those who are seeking accommodations, to get a better understanding of what the objections entail.

Title VII requires that employers provide accommodations and exemptions to employees that object to the vaccine due to their religious beliefs. It is important to note the term “sincerely held religious belief” in these instances.

According to the EEOC, the definition of religion can go beyond just membership in a certain church or a belief in God. It could also include moral and ethical beliefs that are sincerely held. An example of this might be someone who has moral beliefs that they should not have certain substances and chemicals injected into them. This increases the potential number of people that might attempt to use religious exemptions as a means to not get the vaccine.

Can Employers Question the Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs of an Employee?

This is a tricky area of the law, and it is important that employers do not attempt to contact someone’s place of worship, and that they don’t question an employee incorrectly. Most of the time, employers will assume that the objection based on religious beliefs is honest.

However, there may be times that an employer has a reason to question whether the employee is being sincere or if it is truly the nature of their religion. It’s best to have legal counsel to help with these matters. If there is an objection to the employee’s beliefs, the employee can provide written materials and forms to provide a further explanation. Again, employers will only want to broach this subject after talking with an attorney.

Options for Reasonable Accommodation 

What are some of the various types of reasonable accommodations that could be provided for the employees? Many options are potentially available. Of course, because there are so many different types of workplaces, there could be many different types of accommodations that could work. This also means that not all reasonable accommodations will work for all work environments.

One of the simplest options that can work for some employers would be to allow the employees to wear masks and continue to socially distance themselves while in the workplace. Another option that could work for some types of work would be remote working. 2020 proved that remote work can be a good option for many types of companies.

Many businesses have already set up these types of systems and have been using them for their employees for months. They could simply allow those who do not want to get the vaccine based on their religious beliefs to continue working from a remote location.

Another option that might work for certain employers would be to provide an isolated area for that employee to work. This can ensure that they do not come into contact with others in the workplace. This solution will not work for all employers, of course.

When employers are coming up with potential reasonable accommodations, they must also make sure that they are legitimate options that will help the employee and their business. They cannot be retaliatory to “punish” an employee for not getting the vaccine.

What is Undue Hardship?

The limit to providing reasonable accommodations would be when those accommodations would present a hardship to the employer under Title VII. Employers cannot simply claim that they would have a hardship, though. They are required to show how making the accommodation for the employee would cause them undue hardship because of an exceedingly high cost or because it would cause problems with the operation of the business. The same would be true if the accommodation would compromise safety in the workplace, or if it infringes on the rights of other employees. If the accommodation requires that other employees do more than their usual share of work in place of the exempt employee, it could be considered undue hardship as well. The same would be true if the efficiency of the workplace decreases because of the accommodations.

The standard of proof for an undue hardship under Title VII does tend to be lower than when trying to meet undue hardship requirements for the Americans with Disabilities Act. Because it can sometimes be difficult to prove whether there is hardship in these cases.

Talk with an Attorney

Those employers who want to make sure they are abiding by the law when it comes to employees requesting reasonable accommodations for religious reasons will want to speak with an attorney.

Employees who worry that an employer is not providing them with reasonable accommodations or who is trying to force a vaccine despit

FAQ Series: Is Covid-19 A Disability?

May 11, 2020

As of May 11, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has not stated that covid-19 is a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Therefore, an employee who contracts covid-19 is not entitled to protections under the ADA including reasonable accommodations, freedom from discrimination, harassment and retaliation on that basis alone unless that employee also has a disability or is part of another protected class under other federal or state statutes.