ADA/FEHA Interactive Process Issues – 100% Healed Policies Are 100% Illegal

The year end is a time for reflection, and one theme in my practice this year has been the failure of managers (and some HR professionals) to fully understand the interactive process, and to inadvertently cause liability by imposing a 100% healed policy.

Here's how it often works. An employee goes out for a medical issue, sometimes work-related, sometimes not. At some point the employee reaches out about returning to work with some sort of restrictions.

• The manager believes these restrictions will prevent the employee from performing the job as needed, emails HR and indicates an inability to accommodate the restrictions, and the HR manager takes the manager at her/his word.