The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) is issuing a series of guidances, each an extensive manual on addressing a particular workplace disability.  The latest is Visual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The publication explains employer duties to seek reasonable accommodations for disabilities and the EEOC’s function to enforce the ADA.  It also focuses on vision impairments in a Q&A format, including:

• the different types of disability; and
• what would and would not be a disability, e.g., vision corrected to normal by glasses and contact lenses is not.

The guidance contains sections on:

• Obtaining, using, and disclosing medical information, including actions an employer can take pre-employment offer, post-employment offer, and during employment;
• Keeping medical information confidential;
• Extensive information on accommodating applicants and employees, including various electronic tools that assist the visually impaired; potential need for policy, testing, and training modifications; work area adjustments; and sighted assistance and services;
• Safety concerns;
• Harassment; and
• Retaliation and interference.

The guidance offers extensive examples throughout.  For instance:

An employer routinely posts job openings on an employee break room bulletin board, where employees are encouraged to share information. Daryon, an employee with blurriness and blind spots in his vision, requests electronic notice of all the postings via email so that he will have timely notice of the postings. The employer must provide electronic notice or another effective accommodation that would not result in undue hardship.

Take-Aways:

This EEOC guidance is an excellent tool for employers to address issues related to visually impaired applicants or employees. Employers should take advantage of all the EEOC guidances for correctly handling specific disabilities in hiring, employing, and terminating disabled workers.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Disability Leave Policy – Accommodation Dispensation (August 25, 2023)
• Take Heed: Responding to Harassment and Discrimination Complaints Correctly (July 28, 2023)
• Workplace Artificial Intelligence EEOC Goes Old School – Date In, Equal Opportunity Out (May 26, 2023)

Helena Kobrin
September 8, 2023