CHRONIC TONIC posts on Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST, it is a place to share stories, advice, and information and to connect with others with chronic health conditions and those who care for them. Our diarists will report on research, alternative treatments, clinical trials, and health insurance issues through personal stories. You are invited to share in comments (and note if you'd like to be a future diarist).
Tonight's diary by: MsGrin
Hat tip to Slinkerwink for her diary New Changes To The Americans With Disabilities Act
Congress expanded the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2008, and the final rules were published in the Federal Register last Friday (the link I found is dead, so am guessing the online publishing may be delayed), but what is published will apply to any claims filed since January 1, 2009.
Feds Broaden Workplace Protections To Include ‘Invisible Disabilities’
Now, in final rules being published this week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, is instituting new regulations to guarantee that a wider group of people are protected on the job.
Specifically, the rules will change how the definition of disability — considered a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities” — is interpreted.
Under the new regulations an impairment can qualify as a disability even if it occurs periodically, like epilepsy, and even if it does not prevent a person from conducting a major life activity such as self-care, walking or communicating.
“With the release of the EEOC’s regulations, employers across the country will have a clear set of guidelines and rules of the road to ensure equality for Americans with disabilities,” Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, wrote on the White House website about the changes. “This will help ensure civil rights protection for people with ‘invisible disabilities.’”
While the Federal Register link I tried was not up, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision does have the change posted:
Notice Concerning The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act of 2008
On September 25, 2008, the President signed the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 ("ADA Amendments Act" or "Act"). The Act emphasizes that the definition of disability should be construed in favor of broad coverage of individuals to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of the ADA and generally shall not require extensive analysis.
The Act makes important changes to the definition of the term "disability" by rejecting the holdings in several Supreme Court decisions and portions of EEOC's ADA regulations. The effect of these changes is to make it easier for an individual seeking protection under the ADA to establish that he or she has a disability within the meaning of the ADA.
The Act retains the ADA's basic definition of "disability" as an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. However, it changes the way that these statutory terms should be interpreted in several ways. Most significantly, the Act:
•directs EEOC to revise that portion of its regulations defining the term
"substantially limits";
•expands the definition of "major life activities" by including two
non-exhaustive lists:
◦the first list includes many activities that the EEOC has recognized
(e.g., walking) as well as activities that EEOC has not specifically
recognized (e.g., reading, bending, and communicating);
◦the second list includes major bodily functions (e.g., "functions of the
immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder,
neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive
functions");
•states that mitigating measures other than "ordinary eyeglasses or contact
lenses" shall not be considered in assessing whether an individual has a
disability;
•clarifies that an impairment that is episodic or in remission is a disability if it
would substantially limit a major life activity when active;
•changes the definition of "regarded as" so that it no longer requires a
showing that the employer perceived the individual to be substantially
limited in a major life activity, and instead says that an applicant or
employee is "regarded as" disabled if he or she is subject to an action
prohibited by the ADA (e.g., failure to hire or termination) based on an
impairment that is not transitory and minor;
•provides that individuals covered only under the "regarded as" prong are
not entitled to reasonable accommodation.
EEOC will be evaluating the impact of these changes on its enforcement guidances and other publications addressing the ADA.
Effective Date:
The ADA Amendments Act is effective as of January 1, 2009. EEOC's regulations to implement the equal employment provisions of the ADA Amendments Act are effective as of March 25, 2011.
Anyone else feeling less invisible since this went into effect?
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