Americans with Disabilities Act and COVID-19 Laura Bowen and - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Americans with Disabilities Act and COVID-19 Laura Bowen and Teresa Horton CTA Staff

Agenda • Intro of staff/purpose of training • Risk factors with COVID-19 • ADA and the Interactive Process Meeting for Accommodations • Meeting with your doctor and work restrictions • Preparing for the meeting – brainstorming accommodations • Please hold your questions until the very end

Know Your Risks with COVID-19 Source: CDC as of June 25, 2020 People of any age with the following conditions are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19 • Chronic kidney disease • COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) • Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant • Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 or higher) • Serious heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies • Sickle cell disease • Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Know Your Risks with COVID-19 Source: CDC as of June 25, 2020 Based on what we know at this time, people with the following conditions might be at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 • Asthma (moderate to severe) • Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain) • Cystic fibrosis • Hypertension or high blood pressure • Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids or use of other immune weakening medicines • Neurologic conditions, such as dementia

Know Your Risks with COVID-19 Source: CDC as of June 25, 2020 Based on what we know at this time, people with the following conditions might be at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 (continued) • Liver disease • Pregnancy • Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissue) • Smoking • Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder) • Type 1 diabetes mellitus

What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA • U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Website, Section D • https://www.eeoc.gov/wysk/what-you-should-know-about-covid-19-and-ada- rehabilitation-act-and-other-eeo-laws • Get a doctor’s note and run it by CTA Staff or your chapter president • Turn your doctor’s note into HR (not your site admin or secretary) • HR will set up an Interactive Process Meeting • You may bring your Site Rep, Chapter President and/or CTA Representative (Laura Bowen) with you • District looks at the essential functions of the job (job description) • This creates a legal document until you get a new doctor’s note

During the “Interactive” Meeting • HR may ask you: • How the disability creates a limitation • How the requested accommodation will effectively address the limitation • Whether another form of accommodation could effectively address the issue • How a proposed accommodation will enable you to continue performing the "essential functions" of your position (that is, the fundamental job duties)

During the “Interactive” Meeting (continued) • Is your request a reasonable accommodation? The key word here is “reasonable” • Does it place an undue hardship on the district? HR may deny a request for an accommodation. They do not have to create a position or move another employee out of a position • Options: Medical leave (paid), unpaid leave • Be careful of talking yourself out of a job • Don’t refuse to talk about options – you have to participate

Requires a Doctor’s Note Possible Doctor’s Note: To Whom it may concern, I certify that my patient ________ has a disability based on a medical condition that is also generally recognized as a pre-existing medical condition that places him/her at a significantly higher risk for serious infection, and even death, from the COVID-19 virus. Based on this pre-existing condition and the circumstances of the current pandemic, he/she has the following work restrictions: ______________.

Possible RESTRICTIONS at the Worksite Brainstorm with your physician • Must be in a room that is ventilated with operable windows • Must be in a room with filtered air • Must not work more than “___” hours a week in a classroom • Cannot be in an enclosed environment with “___” number of people for “___” amount of time (be very careful as this could talk you out of a job) • Must be able to wash hands every “___” minutes (or use hand sanitizer) • Must wear a district-provided N95 or kN95 mask

Possible RESTRICTIONS at the Worksite Brainstorm with your physician (continued) • Students must maintain 12 feet from the teacher’s desk (with students masked or unmasked?) • Students and adults must maintain social distancing of 6 feet if they are in the classroom for more than 15 minutes (CDC recommendation) • Teacher will not be required to clean/disinfect the classroom • Must not do temperature checks of students, parents or staff on campus • Other ideas?

Possible ACCOMODATIONS at the Worksite Brainstorm with your rep (prior to the meeting) and with the district at the meeting • Remote working/online teaching • N95 or kN95 mask for the teacher (and the students?) • Face shield for the teacher • HEPA air filter for the teacher’s desk • Teacher will not be required to clean/disinfect the classroom

Possible ACCOMODATIONS at the Worksite (continued) Brainstorm with your rep (prior to the meeting) and with the district at the meeting • Option to attend teacher meetings virtually/teleconferencing • Option to attend parent conference, Back to School Night, Open House virtually/teleconferencing • Option to attend IEP/SST meetings virtually/teleconferencing • Outside tented classroom as an option • Washing station in the classroom

Possible ACCOMODATIONS at the Worksite (continued) Brainstorm with your rep (prior to the meeting) and with the district at the meeting • Open windows, plexiglass around teacher’s desk/student’s desk, barriers, etc. • Students seated 12 feet from teacher • Social Distancing: Students seated 6 feet from each other • Staggered start and end time to minimize movement around students and adults • Other ideas?

Q & A • Use the Chat Box to answer questions. • If you have personal medical questions, email your staff person. • If we don’t get to all the questions, please email your staff person. • Teresa Horton at thorton@cta.org for the SD RRC chapters. • Laura Bowen at lbowen@cta.org for CVEA,GEA and LGTA chapters. • Handouts and PowerPoint are available on the UniServ website at www.ectu.org or CVEA, GEA or LGTA’s websites.