Disability Employment Laws
As a California worker, you have rights to protect you against disability discrimination. Under Federal law, you may be protectged under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), passed by Congress in 1990. The California Government Code prohibits disability discrimination as well. Not only disabled employees are protected, but pregnant employees as well. Moreover, there are federal and state laws which may permit pregnancy and medical leave for yourself or a close family member. The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide leaves to certain employees. In California, the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provides a similar leave. Finally, Health and Safety regulations are covered by OSHA and workers compensation laws protect employee hurt on the job.
People who are mistakenly perceived as being disabled also are protected under the law, including perhaps the ADA. For example, an employer might assume that someone with a possible disability, which does nto yet affect their job, is a liability to the company. If an employer discriminates on this basis, it probably is illegal under the ADA.
Finally, people who take care of or are related to people with disabilities may be covered as well. For example, if an employer knows that an employee does volunteer work with terminal AIDS patients, it cannot fire that employee because of his association with AIDS patients. Or, suppose an applicant tells her interviewer that her husband is disabled. If she is the most qualified, the employer cannot simply assume that she will have to miss work, leave work early, or both, and cannot consider the impact of adding a disabled dependent to its insurance plan. However, if a non-disabled employee violates a neutral employer policy on attendance or tardiness, he or she may be terminated under certain circumstances.
California uses a broader definition of disability than the ADA. For example, California law protects people with impairments that limit, but don’t substantially limit, a major life function.
As you look through this web site and consider the many things written about disabilities, remember your state may have a broader definition. Also, disability law may interact in many complex ways with family and medical leave, workers’ compensation and other laws. For this reason, always check with an attorney before taking an adverse employment action against a person with a disability.
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