An employer may not ask job applicants questions such as whether they have any condition that affects their hearing. Image: Alexander Raths/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe EEOC has issued a guide to how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to employees or job applicants with hearing disabilities in federal agencies and other larger employers, including thresholds for when an employer must make accommodations, when an employer may ask questions about a hearing condition and how it should treat voluntary disclosures.
It says the ADA accommodations requirements apply to an individual whose condition “substantially limits” the life activity of hearing, or who “has a record (or history) of a substantially limiting impairment, or are regarded as having such an impairment.”
“A determination of disability must ignore the positive effects of any mitigating measure that is used. For example, if someone uses a hearing aid or has a cochlear implant, the benefits of such a device would not be considered when determining if the impairment is substantially limiting,” it says.
An employer may not ask job applicants questions such as whether they have any condition that affects their hearing, it says, although it may ask questions “pertaining to the applicant’s ability to perform the essential functions of the position” such as whether they could meet legally mandated safety standards required to perform the job.
The law further does not require job applicants to disclose that they have or had a hearing disability or another disability unless they will need a reasonable accommodation for the application process, it adds.
Regarding current employees, it says that “Generally, an employer may ask disability-related questions or require an employee to have a medical examination when it knows about a particular employee’s medical condition, has observed performance problems, and reasonably believes that the problems are related to a medical condition.”
An employer also may ask an employee about a hearing condition when it has a reasonable belief that the employee will be unable to safely perform the essential functions of the job because of it, or to support the employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation needed because of a hearing disability, it adds.
The guidance also covers types of accommodations that maybe required, including assistive technology, altering non-critical job responsibilities, reassignment to vacant positions, making sign language interpreters available, and more.
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