ADA Americans with Disabilities Act Benefits Laws and Regulations Business Operations & Conduct DOL Department of Labor EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission FLSA Fair Labor Standard Act Hiring & On-boarding Labor Relations - Unions State and Regional Regulations Taxes and Withholding Termination of Employment Work Visas - Immigration
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act Benefits Laws and Regulations Business Operations & Conduct DOL Department of Labor EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission FLSA Fair Labor Standard Act Hiring & On-boarding Labor Relations - Unions State and Regional Regulations Taxes and Withholding Termination of Employment Work Visas - Immigration

ADA Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all kinds of areas including transportation, employment, public accommodations, access to state and local government’ programs and services as well as communications. When it comes to employment, Title 1 of this ADA law protects the rights of both job seeker and employees in finding and keeping jobs despite their disabilities.

However, The US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy does not really call for Americans with disabilities act compliance but it offers publications and other technical assistance on the basic requirements of the law. This means that it advocates for employers’ obligations to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants and employees with disabilities.

Basically speaking, The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal law that protects the rights of people living with disabilities by eliminating barriers that could make their participation in many aspects of living and working in the country impossible. Here are some of the Americans with disabilities act facts that everyone living with a disability needs to know:

  1. Contrary to what many people believe, the ADA does not force employers to hire unqualified individuals with disabilities. The truth is, any job applicant who is unqualified for a job cannot claim discrimination under this Act. To be well protected by this law against discrimination, you must be fully qualified for the job you are applying for and this means applicants must ensure they are meeting all the job requirements and are able to perform its essential functions with or without reasonable accommodations.
  2. American disability act for employees does not also require employers to hire the only applicant with a disability when there are several qualified applicants for a job. In this case, employers are free to hire the applicant of their choice as long as the decision they make is not based on the disability. If two people apply for the same job and high level of accuracy is required, which a person with a disability is not able to meet, the employer is free to choose the best qualified individual.
  3. The ADA does not give job applicants with disabilities advantages over job applicants without disabilities. What the law advocates is equal opportunity for both people living with disabilities and those without. However, people with disabilities should be given special privileges known as accommodations to ensure that they are functioning at par with the required business standards.
  4. The American disability act employees law does not also stop an employer from firing an employee who has a disability. However, this should be done with a lot of caution and under three conditions:
    • The termination is unrelated to the disability
    • The employee does not meet legitimate requirements for the job, such as performance or production standards, with or without a reasonable accommodation
    • Because of the employee’s disability, he or she poses a direct threat to health or safety in the workplace.

ADA toolkit is therefore a must have for all employers to ensure that they are always compliant with the law requirements right from recruitment to advancement, to pay and benefits.

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