Your Legal Rights in the Workplace

Your legal rights in the workplace.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal law that most people don't understand. Many don't know that it has anything to do with a disease like cancer. However, the ADA prohibits all types of discrimination based on actual disability, a perceived history of a disability, A misperception of a current disability or a history of disability.

The act covers employers with 15 or more employees. If you have cancer, this law may cover you. If you choose to disclose your diagnosis with your supervisor and require reasonable workplace accommodations.

The Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA, protects eligible cancer survivors from discrimination in the workplace. It requires eligible employers to make reasonable accommodations to allow employees to function properly on the job.

Accommodations may include modifying work schedules, reassigning an employee to a less physically taxing position or providing getting more comfortable chair.

The ADA ensures that employers must treat all employees equally. In 2008, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act. ADAAA, was signed into law.

The amendment broadens the numbers of those who are eligible for protection by extending and clarifying the conditions covered. Disability, as originally advised by the ADA, is physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity.

The ADAAA however amends the ADA Act by giving a broader definition of major life activity that includes seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, breathing and thinking.

Importantly, major life activity now also includes major bodily functions such as immune system functioning, normal cell growth and endocrine and reproductive functions.

Individuals with a disability cannot be deprived of the right to reasonable accommodations, even if an individual's condition is controlled by mitigating measures. Something that takes away the symptoms or relieves the obvious problem, such as medications or prosthetic device, or because the condition is in remission or because it only arises occasionally.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC oversees the enforcement of the ADA. They published the ADA your employment rights as an individual with a disability.

For more information, visit the U.S. Department of Justice's ADA home page at ADA Gov and the EEOC page at this link.

The FMLA Act is another law which gives you important rights, which we discussed earlier in the taking on medical leave of absence lesson.

Like the ADA, the Federal Rehabilitation Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees because they have cancer. This act applies only to employees of the federal government, as well as private and public employers who receive public funds.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can give you specifics about who is protected from discrimination and who qualifies for help.

There may also be regulations specific to your state or municipality that deal with discrimination in the workplace.

To find out more information, contact your state's attorney general’s office.

Finally, for full and fair disclosure, I am not offering legal advice or opinions on any matter. I recommend seeking legal counsel for any questions about a specific situation.

Also seek more information on the Federal Rehabilitation Act. Visit the U.S. Access Board website.