The Wall Street Journal editorial page (subscription required) today reports that its sources say that the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission plans “a major rewrite” of requirements for compliance with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.  Among these are:

• Rules that would expand unpaid leave;
• Rules restricting the disciplining of workers who qualify as disabled under the ADA;
• Rules making it harder for employers to decline requests by disabled workers for telecommuting options.

As the Wall Street Journal notes, these changes would increase employer costs and litigation risk, and might ultimately have the perverse effect of discouraging the hiring of disabled workers.

At this point, these new regulations have not been promulgated yet.  We will keep you posted on these proposed regulations when and if they become law.