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The measure, according to a SHRM Government Affairs Department analysis:
• Clarifies the current requirement that impairment must substantially limit a major life activity, such as work, to be considered a disability.
• Prohibits consideration of mitigating measures in determining whether a person has a disability, with the exception of ordinary eyeglasses and contact lenses.
• Expands the definition of disability.
• Retains the current law standard that the burden of proof remains with the employee for showing that he or she is a qualified employee with a disability.
The Senate bill would make it easier for people with disabilities to be covered by the ADA because the expanded definition covers many more major life activities and includes a new category of major bodily functions.
Expanding the definition of disability would not apply to an impairment expected to last less than six months, and employers would not be required to provide a reasonable accommodation to individuals regarded as disabled in that situation. The bill does provide that a person is regarded as having a disability if the employee established that he or she has been discriminated against because of an actual or perceived mental or physical impairment, according to Michael Layman, SHRM’s labor and employment manager.
The bill is expected to be voted on next week in the House and should “be on the way to the White House potentially within the [next] week,” Layman said. -
(Kathy Gurchiek, associate editor for HR News. )
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