Americans With Disabilities Act | Your Rights Under ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act – Overview

If you are seeking a job, you must be familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA. It is a federal civil rights law designed to prevent discrimination against individuals with disabilities and ensure their full participation in all aspects of society.

One of the fundamental principles of the ADA is that if a person with disabilities wants to work and is qualified to do so, that person should get an equal opportunity.

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How Do You Know if You Are Protected by the ADA

To be covered by the ADA, you must be a qualified individual with a disability. This means that if you have any disability as defined by the ADA, you can be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Under the ADA, a person is considered to have a disability if he or she has a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as seeing, speaking, thinking, hearing, walking, breathing, or performing manual tasks.

However, you should be able to do the job you were hired to do. The ADA applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It is also applicable to employment agencies and labor organizations.

Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act applies nondiscrimination standards similar to the ADA for federal sector employees. Here is a list of the conditions that a person with disabilities may have.

If a person has mental or physical impairments that can limit one or more major life activities
If a person has any history of such impairment
If the person is regarded as having such conditions or impairments

Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants or employees with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are modifications or adjustments provided by the employer to enable individuals with disabilities to receive equal employment opportunities.

Accommodations can vary entirely depending upon the requirements of an applicant or an employee. Not everyone with an impairment will have the same requirements. Every person has different needs and different preferences.

An applicant who is deaf may need someone who can interpret sign language during a work interview.
An individual with diabetes may need regularly scheduled breaks to eat properly during the workday and monitor insulin and blood sugar levels.
An employee who is blind may need a person to read the information from a bulletin board.
Someone with cancer may need more leave to have chemotherapy or radiation therapy treatments.

What Are Your Rights Under the ADA?

Americans with Disabilities Act – What Are Your Rights Under the ADA?

The ADA can protect you from any discrimination in employment practices. You will receive help in every step of the employment process, including the work application process, hiring someone, firing from the job, the training period, the pay role, promotion, leaves, and benefits.

Under this program, you do not have to face harassment or bullying because of your disability. No employer can discipline or fire you for your rights under the ADA. You will be able to request reasonable accommodations for the job.

Medical Examinations and Inquiries

Employers cannot inquire about the nature, existence, or severity of an applicant’s disability. However, they can ask the applicant about their ability to perform any specific job function. The job offer can be conditioned on your medical examination.

However, it is only possible if an examination is required for every employee entering similar jobs. The medical examination should be related to the job profile and consistent with the business needs of the employers.

The applicant’s medical records are confidential. Employers should keep any medical records of their employees highly confidential and with limited expectations. The information should be kept confidential, even if it does not contain any medical diagnosis or treatment plan.

Drugs and Alcohol Abuse

Individuals currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs are not protected by the ADA, especially regarding employment decisions based on such use.

Any tests for drug abuse are not subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act’s restrictions. The employers can hold the alcoholics or drug users to the same performance standards as other general employees.

5 Different Titles of the Americans with Disabilities Act

There are five different titles of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

1. Title I: Employment

The title ‘Employment’ is generally designed to help everyone with disabilities get equal opportunities in the workplace. The employer has to offer reasonable accommodation for the people under the ADA program.

Employers with 15 or more employees are required to comply with this law. Every individual under the ADA program may have different requirements and preferences, so the accommodation may vary depending on the employee’s condition.

2. Title II: State and Local Government

Tile II of the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. This rule applies to all Local and State governments. All departments, agencies, or any other instrumentalists should follow this act.

3. Title III: Public Accommodation

No one should discriminate against anyone based on their disability in public accommodations and commercial facilities. It is necessary to make some reasonable changes to offer some facilities to people with disabilities. It is necessary to take the necessary steps to effectively communicate with individuals with hearing, vision, and speech disabilities.

4. Title IV: Telecommunication

According to this title, internet and telephone companies should offer a nationwide system of intrastate and interstate telecommunications relay services. These services can allow people with speech and hearing disabilities to communicate over the telephone.

5. Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions

It contains various ADA-related provisions, including state immunity, its relationship to other laws, its impact and benefits, a prohibition against coercion, any illegal use of drugs, and attorney’s fees.

Conclusion

The primary goal of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to protect individuals with impairments or disabilities and help them achieve equal opportunities in life.

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Your Rights Under Americans With Disabilities Act