California Employee Rights and Employer Obligations: Disability, Employment, and the Law

Overview

This episode explores the Interactive Process (IP) and Reasonable Accommodation (RA) requirements under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), using the Interactive Process Manual for California public agency employers as the primary source.

Learning Objectives

After completing this episode, participants will be able to:

1. Distinguish between Workers' Compensation and FEHA/ADA frameworks and explain how FEHA's disability definition differs from federal ADA standards
2. Identify the three triggers that initiate the legal duty to engage in the Interactive Process and recognize when accommodation requests require employer response
3. Apply the 10-step Interactive Process framework to real-world disability accommodation scenarios, including proper documentation at each stage
4. Evaluate the difference between essential and marginal job functions and determine when job restructuring or reassignment is required as reasonable accommodation
5. Assess various types of reasonable accommodations including physical modifications, schedule changes, leave extensions, and reassignment options
6. Analyze undue hardship defenses and identify what employers are not required to do under FEHA
7. Navigate privacy requirements including GINA compliance, medical information storage, and confidentiality protocols
8. Recognize forms of retaliation and understand how to maintain the balance between individualized assessment and consistent documentation

Key Takeaways

1. Interactive Process is mandatory: Legal duty in California, requires timely good faith dialogue

1. Broad definition of disability: Covers wide range of conditions affecting major life activities or bodily functions

1. Extensive accommodation range: From physical modifications to extended unpaid leave beyond FMLA/CFRA

1. Process failure = liability: Can lose in court solely for failing to follow the process, even if no accommodation was possible

1. Documentation is the shield: Meticulous, objective records of conversations, options considered, employee input, and reasons for decisions

1. Individualization is required: Every case must be assessed individually; no blanket policies allowed

1. Privacy is paramount: Strict confidentiality, separate files, GINA compliance essential

1. Retaliation is prohibited: Employees protected for participating in accommodation process or exercising rights

1. The balancing act: Document thoroughly while maintaining individualized assessment for each case