On September 8, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) released guidance stating that businesses will
not be required to automatically allow remote work as a reasonable
accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act
(“ADA”) as the threat of COVID-19 dissipates.
Under Title I of the ADA, employers must provide qualified
employees with disabilities with reasonable accommodations to do
their jobs, except when such accommodation would cause an undue
hardship. An adjustment that eliminates an essential function
or fundamental duty of a position is not considered a reasonable
accommodation.
When COVID-19 forced businesses to shift to remote operations,
many employers were anxious that temporarily eliminating essential
functions of certain employees' jobs during the remote work
period might make it impossible to demand full performance of their
duties once the remote work period ended. The EEOC addressed
this exact issue and said, “The fact
