Does your heart start racing and do you experience heart palpitations when you hear the words āInteractive Process?ā Well, relax and breathe! Heart palpitations are scary, but in the long-term, they are harmless to your physical health, which means you will survive to handle an Interactive Process!
The āInteractive Processā can be a scary term for many Human Resources Professionals. My goal today is to show you that it does not have to be a scary term. There is nothing complicated with this process, it is indeed a very simple legal compliance. However, if it is not handled correctly, it could have serious implications for a companyās bottom line. I am talking about the devastating effects that could take a company out of business. You are probably saying āGreat Elga, here I am sweating againā. OK, I will stop for a moment being dramatic, but it is true, itās a simple process, I promise I will get to it, but if we donāt follow the Interactive Process, we could end up in hot waters.
If you would like to learn more about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as well as laws that that do or could impact you as an HR Professional while earning continuing education credits towards your SHRM or HRCI certification please join me at one of my upcoming Certificate Program Trainings on topics such as FMLA, ADA, Pregnancy Descrimination, Employment Laws, Interviewing Skills, OSHA and Sexual Harassment Law and Investigation Techniques.
If you would like to learn more about our SHRM-CPĀ®, SHRM-SCPĀ®, aPHR™, PHRĀ®, SPHRĀ® Exam Prep Courses and Boot Camps please check out our upcoming Exam Prep Trainings and check out our Student Testimonials and Success Stories.
Have you had a conversation with an employee in the past? Of course, you’ve had tons and tons of conversations. Thatās what you do day in and day out, unless you are a manager who āmanages from a computerā and never finds the time to talk to his/her employees (not my favorite kind of manger). We talk and interact with our employees on a daily basis. Many times the conversations we have with them are regarding issues, concerns, or questions that they bring to our attention. Part of our role as leaders is to answer those questions and to remove the barriers and obstacles they encounter so our companies can enjoy the benefits of a productive and engaged workforce.
Thatās it! That is what the Interactive Process is all about, removing the barriers and obstacles to employees who have a disability and need āsomethingā in order to perform the essential functions of the job. That āsomethingā is called Reasonable Accommodationā.
In a nutshell, two simple phrases describe the Interactive Process: āhaving a conversationā and āhaving an accommodation mindsetā.
During the Interactive Process we will determine:
1) If the employee has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities (if the answer is yes, then the employee has a disability under the ADA). We would know if they do by engaging the employeeās health care provider in the interactive process.
2) What is the change/modification the employee needs to be able to perform the essential functions of the job. This is the part when we want to develop ideas of what changes or modifications the employee needs to be able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodations. Most of the time, the employee will tell us exactly what they need, but we want to include their health care providers as well. I also highly recommend researching accommodation ideas from the Job Accommodation Network website (www.askjan.org). Always keep in mind that the employer is the one who selects the reasonable accommodation, You do want the employees and their health care providerās input but you are the one who will select the appropriate, reasonable, effective accommodation.
3) If the accommodation was effective after selection and implementation. The law states that the accommodation does not have to be āperfectā but it does need to be āeffectiveā to be considered reasonable. The accommodation process is an ongoing process due to the fact that something that is effective right now may not be effective later on. If that is the case, we repeat the steps of the Interactive Process.
One of the most important steps in the Interactive Process is having thorough documentation of the entire process. Document, document and document! Keep good records of every single meeting you had with the employee, things discussed, ideas, implementation, health care providerās paperwork, follow-ups, etc. This is what we will have to show to prove that we have complied with our obligation to engage in the Interactive Process.
Here is the beauty of the Accommodation Process: you get to affect peopleās lives in a positive way. Having an āAccommodation Mindsetā is going to make this process such a rewarding experience. Itās all about leveling the playing field for employees with disabilities so they can have the same opportunities in the workforce just like everybody else.
If you would like to learn more about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as well as laws that that do or could impact you as an HR Professional while earning continuing education credits towards your SHRM or HRCI certification please join me at one of my upcoming Certificate Program Trainings on topics such as FMLA, ADA, Pregnancy Descrimination, Employment Laws, Interviewing Skills, OSHA and Sexual Harassment Law and Investigation Techniques.
If you would like to learn more about our SHRM-CPĀ®, SHRM-SCPĀ®, aPHR™, PHRĀ®, SPHRĀ® Exam Prep Courses and Boot Camps please check out our upcoming Exam Prep Trainings and check out our Student Testimonials and Success Stories.