There is probably no more hard and fast rule, or favorite word
of human resource professionals, than "consistency." And
we love consistency, right? It allows you to say "no" to
an employee who wants something outside of the norm. It gives you a
guilt-free reason to evenly apply policies, even when the result
may otherwise seem to be unfair, disproportionate or even
unwarranted. It makes responding to U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charges easier when you can show a
clear pattern of how employers apply or enforce policies. In short,
consistency makes life easier. Or does it?
While human resource professionals (and their counsel) do and
should value consistency, trends in dealing with individual
employee situations make it clear that consistent application of
certain policies cannot always be the default. For instance,
consider the case of two employees who need reasonable
accommodation and are otherwise protected by the Americans with
Disabilities
