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Law360 (April 17, 2020, 5:41 PM EDT ) The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Friday once again revamped its guidance for employers dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding on advice for disability accommodation requests and harassment while also adding a section on employees going back to work.
The EEOC updated its technical assistance questions and answers with 10 more inquiries about complying with employment law during the coronavirus outbreak. Some of those questions fell under a new section in the guidance, titled "Return to Work."
A number of the new responses dealt with how to handle workers' accommodation requests. The agency advised employers that they can still ask workers for information or medical documentation to determine whether they have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires accommodation.
The agency noted that employers could decide to forgo the "interactive process" and simply grant accommodation requests, given the coronavirus pandemic. Employers could also choose to put end dates on accommodations, although they would have to consider workers' requests for extensions, according to the EEOC.
The guidance also addressed how the pandemic might impact whether a requested accommodation is an undue hardship — "significant difficulty or expense" — noting that accommodations that might not have posed a hardship for an employer could pose one now.
Employers might want to think about whether the current situation creates "significant difficulty" in providing an accommodation, the agency said. For instance, it might be harder to give workers temporary assignments or get them certain items, according to the agency.
The EEOC also pointed out that the "sudden loss of some or all of an employer's income stream" from the pandemic and the "amount of discretionary funds available" should be considered when deciding if an accommodation is a "significant expense."
"These considerations do not mean that an employer can reject any accommodation that costs money; an employer must weigh the cost of an accommodation against its current budget while taking into account constraints created by this pandemic," the agency said.
Another question covered what employers should do about potential harassment and discrimination once their workplaces reopen. The EEOC said that employers can remind its workers that bias won't be tolerated and advise management of its role in stopping and reporting harassment and discrimination.
In the new section on returning to work, the EEOC fielded inquiries about screening workers and providing accommodations for personal protective equipment. The agency said the ADA lets employers make inquiries and conduct medical exams if they're necessary for keeping out workers who have a medical condition that poses "a direct threat to health or safety."
But the agency also advised that employers should be careful not to "engage in unlawful disparate treatment based on protected characteristics in decisions related to screening and exclusion."
Additionally, while employers can require workers to wear personal protective equipment and engage in certain infection control practices like hand washing, they should be ready to discuss disability and religious accommodations, the EEOC said.
--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
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