Manufacturers Adjust to Accommodation From Assembly Line Workers - The National Law Review
As manufacturers rebound from the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and begin putting more employees back to work, they should be prepared for a corresponding increase in requests for accommodation from assembly line workers.
These requests can create unique challenges in manufacturing plants due to the inherently physical nature of the work, but there are options and strategies for employers to consider.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers must provide reasonable accommodations to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their jobs. However, what is reasonable for one employer may not be reasonable for another. In no setting is this more apparent than on the assembly line.
By its very nature, the assembly line is often physical, requiring employees to stand or sit for long periods, engage in repetitive motions, use tools, and manipulate parts of varying weights and sizes. In many situations, these requirements cannot be easily adjusted without altering the fundamental nature of the job and causing a ripple effect on the duties of the other workers on the assembly line. Manufacturers, like other employers, do not have to provide a reasonable accommodation if it imposes an “undue hardship.”
Indeed, courts have generally affirmed that the duty to reasonably accommodate a disabled employee does not require a manufacturer to eliminate essential functions of the employee’s job,...
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