Does your company’s leave policy call for an employee’s termination following the expiration of his or her leave entitlement? Does your company charge “attendance points” against employees regardless of the reason for the absence? Does your company require employees to be released to work without restrictions before they are permitted to return from a medical leave? If so, beware: “inflexible” leave of absence and attendance policies are being targeted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and plaintiffs under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

The ADA prohibits discrimination in employment based upon an individual’s physical or mental disability. The definition of disability was significantly broadened under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which also shifted the focus from whether or not an individual has a “disability” to what steps the employer takes to determine whether a reasonable accommodation exists. Thus, the extent to which an employer engages in an interactive accommodation process will be closely examined in order to determine whether the law was violated. This shift in focus necessitates a case-by-case analysis of reasonable accommodation issues in your workplace, including both long-term and intermittent employee medical leaves of absence.