Do companies have to accommodate service animals? Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, which applies to companies with 15 or more employees, an employer should attempt to provide a "reasonable accommodation" to a person with a qualified disability. The act defines what types of conditions would qualify as a disability. If the individual is eyesight impaired and allowing a dog at work does not create an "undue hardship" to your company, then yes, providing that accommodation would be reasonable.
It's a slippery slope from there. What types of animals are service animals? What level of mental health ailment would qualify someone as having a disability? Our best advice is to get some validation from a medical provider for the need for the accommodation and the benefit it would provide and allow the accommodation as you deem appropriate.
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The recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act extended FFCRA as a voluntary benefit and applicable tax credit offset through September 30, 2021, and it also made some revisions, including:
Again, any FFCRA is voluntary as of January 1, 2021. However, providing employees with this paid time off (as well as related costs, such as insurance premiums) is repaid to employers through the offset of payroll taxes.
Paid time off policies, along with most employment policies, can be changed at any time as long as they remain compliant with applicable federal, state, and local laws. If you had to make a temporary adjustment due to particular circumstances (such as a world-wide pandemic), you can rescind that revision at any point or implement an all-together different option. Even if you did not specifically state the change was temporary you have the right to make the revision.
Whenever you make a policy change, you should give employees advanced notice. Not only is it required in some states but notice is always a good practice to ensure employees understand expectations and allowances. Also, if employees have already made plans under the former policy, try to accommodate as much as possible.
Has demand for a secondary or new service exploded since you furloughed employees? In most employment-at-will situations, you are able to employ the best person for the job you need done. This means that, if currently-furloughed employees do not have the skills or talents to effectively perform the job duties you need, you should be able to hire a new employee. It is essential to hire someone who has different abilities, education, or experience than anyone currently in your workforce that enable them to perform that service when and how you need it.
There may be more restrictions to your ability to hire a new employee if you have employees under a CBA (labor contract) or depending on how you worded the furlough notice.
As always, document your decisions and procedures to be able to show that you hired the new employee based on the services they could provide rather than to replace a furloughed employee for a discriminatory reason.
There is very little guidance from the CDC on how one should handle voluntary travel within the United States as the stay-at-home orders open up. If you are concerned with employee vacations, it is best to discuss with your employees the risks involved and the appropriateness of self-quarantining.
If they are able to work from home, you may want to request that they do so. If they are unable to work from home, you should discuss whether you will require them to take paid time off, or whether you will pay them to remain at home. Finally, we encourage you to do some research. The CDC has an up-to-date tracker of infection rates for all counties across the country. Having a clear understanding of the risks before employees go on vacation should help to guide your decision about self-quarantining upon return.