Accommodating
Disability in the
Workplace
Frida Kahlo
Introduction
• The Law
– Human Rights
– Undue Hardship
• The Research
– Why do some
accommodations
work and others
fail?
– Method
• What can
Employers Do?
PREDISABILITY
Performance History
Discipline
Absenteeism
Difficult Coworker
Relations
Previous Disability
ACUTE
PHASE
Diagnosis and
Time off for
Recovery
Precipitous
Returns
RTW PHASE
Disability Factors
Chronicity
Absenteeism
Control
Visibility
Outside Agency Factors
Omnipotent Physician
Agency
Financial Threat
Coworkers & Union
Employee Factors
Locus of Control
Behaviour
Emotional Overlay
Deceptive Independence
Scamming
Beginning Balance
SOCIAL CAPITAL
Employer Factors
Procedural Justice
Investigation
Recalcitrance
Policy Gaps
Culture
Ending Balance
MODEL OF FACTORS IMPACTING RTW SUCCESS
EMPLOYEE
WORK HISTORY
“You get to know your
people after a
while, you get to
know who is
playing, who is
honest…When
you’ve got
somebody that has
screwed you in the
past and then they
have a legitimate
injury, you wind up
getting blinders
on.”
EMPLOYEE WORK HISTORY
Is this employee’s work
history contributing to the
difficult RTW?
• Discipline
• Absenteeism
• Difficult Peer Relations
– Sault Area Hospitals Case
• Breaching organizational
norms
• Previous Disability
How can we address the
situation?
• Preparing peers for the
RTW
• Validate disability
• Provide strategies to the
returning employee
– Focus on abilities and
contribution
• Return to a different unit
DISABILITY FACTORS
“Now here was a guy that
had broken his
ankle…Returned to
work too early, became
permanently injured as
a result…They brought
him inside into the plant
on a temporary basis,
until he was able to
recover…He made a lot
of bad personal choices
about how he was
going to deal with stuff.
Ended up being
discharged. ”
DISABILITY FACTORS
Is this difficult RTW related to
the nature of the disability
itself?
• Precipitous Returns
• Chronicity and
Absenteeism
• Visibility and Legitimacy
• Symptom Control
• Multiple Illnesses
How can we address the
situation?
• Functional capacity
exams
• Permanent vs. temporary
accommodation
• Management and
Employee education
• Person-job matching
– Retraining
– Telecommuting
EMPLOYEE FACTORS
“They are so sick and tired of
being sick and tired. They
are so sick and tired of
filling out forms. They are
so sick and tired of people
not believing that they are
ill. That they just give up.”
“There’s others that come
back on modified return to
work and oh gawd, it’s like
be careful don’t do too
much. And that’s another
dangerous group.”
EMPLOYEE FACTORS
Is this difficult RTW related to
the employee’s behaviour
or perceptions of that
behaviour?
• Behaviours, Attitudes,
and Traits
– Evasiveness, refusing
treatment, ambivalence
– Locus of control
• Deceptive
Independence
• Emotional Overlay
• Scamming
How can we address the
situation?
• Make the process clear
and consistent
– Communicate***, in-person
and provide documentation
• Small, manageable steps,
positive reinforcement
• Emphasize/reward
adherence to limitations
and treatment plan
• Refer to EAP
• Management training:
– Signs and symptoms of
depression
WORKPLACE FACTORS
“When asked in crossexamination why he made the
harassment allegation, the
grievor said three things. First,
he was not being treated the
same as other employees;
second, he did not want to be
absent due to his handicap and it
did not help the situation when
he was told not to be absent;
third, he was not able to have
any input into the meetings to
discuss his absences.” (Greater
Victoria Hospital Society, 1998,
para. 69).
WORKPLACE FACTORS
Is this difficult RTW related to How can we address the
the way we’ve managed it?
situation?
• Accommodation Effort • Focus on RTW vs. illness
legitimacy
– Investigation
• Involve the employee and
– Reluctance
union from the beginning
• Employee Involvement
– Employer initiated contact
• Appropriate
• Procedural Justice
accommodation cost
• Policy Gaps
allocation
– Who is responsible?
– Worker replacement
policies
• Union/Management
Relations
• Reward systems
• RTW coordinator
– With authority and a budget
• Additional workers to fairly
allocate tasks
OUTSIDE AGENCY FACTORS
“Everybody thinks a doctor is
there to help you, a doctor
is there to make money
and they are running a
business and they went to
school to run that business.
So, some doctors are more
than happy to write doctors
notes. It means the patient
will come back to get more
doctors notes. That really, I
think, muddies and
discredits something like
duty to accommodate.”
OUTSIDE AGENCY FACTORS
Is this RTW complicated by
difficult relations with
outside agencies?
• The Omnipotent Physician
– Physician as Agent
– Infinite Expertise
• WCB
– Bias – Anti-employer, antiemployee, anti-union?
• Threatened Financial
Coverage
– Immediately post-injury –
claim delays
– LTD – WCB, Insurer, or EI
• Amount and Duration
How can we address the
situation?
• Union as intermediary
• Focus on super-ordinate
goals
• Review sick time policies
– Dr.’s note requirements?
– Financial coverage prior to
STD?
– Employees whose covered
sick time has maxed out?
CONCLUSION
• It may be one or it may be all
• How does the organization want to utilize
it’s resources?
• Proactively address organizational issues,
then respond to individual circumstances
Contact Information
• Kelly Williams-Whitt, MBA, PhD
• University of Lethbridge at Calgary
• kelly.williams@uleth.ca