Americans with Disabilities Act

Americans with Disabilities Act

Introduction

Notably, American’s with Disabilities Act purpose is the provision of a clear and comprehensive national mandate to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities. Besides, ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency, is the Nation’s goals concerning individuals with disabilities. Thus, ensuring that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.  On the other hand, the American with Disabilities Act also intends to provide a reduction in federal payments for social security income and other federal tax-funded disability programs. Therefore, the paper seeks to explore the American with Disabilities Act, its importance to the Human Resource profession, and also to the employee.

American with Disabilities Act is a law of civil rights that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. Moreover, the American with Disabilities Act is essential to the Human Resources Profession. For instance, when it comes to hiring and termination, it is the responsibility of a human resources manager to ensure that all candidates are treated fairly and also considered equally, without judgment or penalty for any time type of disability covered under the Act. Furthermore, human resources managers work closely with the employees to ensure that the compensation and benefits of an organization are fairly and equitably distributed. Besides, employers look to a human resources manager to ensure that an employee with a disability under the Act can easily access every area of the organization. Thus, the human resource manager will be the point of contact for any employee with a complaint about accessibility or fair practices if the organization is not compliance.

On the other hand, the human resources manager will at the end of the day be responsible for ensuring that all types of organizations comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act if they have more than fifteen employees. Besides, a human resources manager also provides that all employment factors such as hiring, termination, training, and promotion adhere to the guidelines outlined in the legislation. Therefore, American with disabilities acts need an employer to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to apply and also work in jobs for which they are qualified. Also, the American with disabilities act requires an employer to ensure that people with disabilities also have an equal opportunity to be promoted and even access to benefits and privileges of employment that are offered to other employees. Also, they should not be harassed because of their disability. Besides, the Americans with disabilities act also require an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation if a person with a disability needs one to apply for a job, perform a job, or enjoy benefits equal to those that other employees are offered.

On the other hand, the Americans with Disabilities Act is also crucial to the employees. For instance, it has helped employees with disabilities access the same employment opportunities and benefits available to people without disabilities. Also, Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination based on disability by public entities such as state and local government agencies thus, requiring public bodies to make their programs, services, and activities accessible to people with disabilities. Besides, employees with disabilities can get a reasonable accommodation so that they can do their job without causing the employer undue hardship. Additionally, for employees with vision, hearing and speech disabilities, the employer is expected to take the necessary steps to ensure that there is effective communication. Therefore, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires the provision of a nationwide system telecommunication relay services by telephone and internet services that will be used in different states and within the state. Thus, helping employees in an organization and also other individuals with hearing or speech disabilities to communicate over the telephone.

However, increased rates of discrimination among the disabled people led to the development of Americans with Disabilities Act. For instance, the lack of confidence from employers is among the significant challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. Employers lack confidence that their organizations will be able to support an employee with a disability. However, some employers feel that disabled people would make a valuable contribution to the workplace but worry that they are more likely to take time off work. Additionally, employers find it expensive to employ disabled people considering the cost of modifying equipment. Besides, employers also worry that people with disability will claim discrimination if the job does not work out.

On the other hand, the recruitment process itself is, at times, a barrier when there is a lack of flexibility or adaptation to meet the needs of an applicant with disabilities. Also, people feel uncomfortable being open about their health condition or disability because they are afraid that they will be wrongly viewed as less capable, passed over promotion, or even lose their job. Also, however necessary, many disabled employees face reluctance from their employers to make any adjustment to their workplace. Thus, undermining employees working with disabilities and discouraging them from applying to work in specific organizations.

Additionally, employers also experience barriers in employing people with disability — for instance, low levels of awareness of legal obligations concerning discrimination against people with disability. Also, employers find it difficult ensuring access and flexibility for workers with disability and also limited resources, especially for small businesses. Besides, people believe that someone with a disability is given an unfair advantage because of his or her disability. Therefore, it is the managers’ responsibility to ensure that individuals with disabilities are treated to the same standards as those without limitations. Also, people tend to think that they need to help a person with a disability doing the task because of the belief that they are incapable of accomplishing them on their own whereas, they are capable of completing their tasks as those living without disabilities. Moreover, people feeling sorry for someone living with a disability makes them feel inferior whereas, they do not want pity or charity but prefer being treated and given equal opportunities to earn their way and live independently. However, if a building or a work station is correctly designed, it is possible to make the office a safe, comfortable, and a convenient working environment for all people.

However, Americans with disabilities act are applied practically in the field of human resources management. Whereby, the same qualitative and quantitative requirements are administered to an employee with a disability as well as employees without limitations, for the performance of the essential functions. Therefore, an employee with a disability must meet the same production standards whether quantitative or qualitative as an employee who is not disabled in the same job. Thus, lowering or changing a production standard due to the disability of an employee and cannot meet it is not considered a reasonable accommodation. Hence, a reasonable accommodation is required to assist an employee in achieving a specific production standard. Therefore, employers should give clear guidance to an employee with a disability as well as other employees without disabilities concerning the production in terms of quantity and quality of work that must be achieved. Also, employers use the same evaluation criteria for employees with disabilities, as well as employees without disabilities.

Consequently, to alert an employee with a disability that his disability is adding to the problem, accuracy in employee’s performance evaluation is ensured. Hence, resulting in an employee requesting to address the problem and better his performance in decent accommodation. Thus, benefiting the employee as well as the employer.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if an employer rates an employee’s performance to below, and the employee responds that her state of disability is the cause of the performance problem, the employer should follow up by making clear what level of performance is required. Besides, the employer can ask whether there is an accommodation that can help raise the employee’s performance level if the employee does not ask.  Also, an employee with a disability is held to the same standard as other employees if their disability results in a transgression of a conduct rule. Hence, the individual is disciplined by the employer if the conduct rule is related to the job and consistent with the necessity of the business. Besides, the Americans with Disabilities Act allows employers to develop and enforce conduct rules. Therefore, even when the disability causes the conduct, the Americans with Disabilities Act does not offer protection to employees from the repercussions of transgressing conduct requirements.