The Americans with Disabilities Act, also known as the ADA, is actually a part of Title VII legislation and also applies only to employers with 15 or more employees. The ADA covers those who:
- have a long-term physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities
- have a history of such impairment
- are regarded as having such an impairment
As an employer, you must reasonably accommodate all individuals covered by the law, and you cannot do any of the following:
- adopt different pay scales, benefits programs, or promotion opportunities for the protected group (assuming the differences harm the protected group)
- enter into contracts with other companies that would have the effect of discriminating against your employees
- discriminate against an employee in any term and condition of employment because a family member or friend was covered under the protection of the ADA
- make employment decisions based on generalizations about a disability rather than the facts of a specific case
The ADA also affects such areas of employment as pre-employment medical exams, pre-employment inquiries about physical ability, job descriptions, job qualifications, absenteeism, and worker safety.
Effective January 1, 2009, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) significantly broadens the scope of protection available under the ADA. The ADAAA broadens the definition of disability by modifying terms of the definition. The ADAAA expands the definition of major life activities, redefines who is regarded as having a disability, modifies the regulatory definition of substantially limits, specifies that the term disability includes any impairment that is episodic or in remission if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active, and prohibits consideration of the ameliorative effects of mitigating measures when assessing whether an impairment substantially limits a person's major life activities, with one exception--the use of ordinary glasses or contact lenses. The ADAAA also adds a provision restricting an employer's use of qualification standards, tests, or other selection criteria that are based on uncorrected vision standards, clarifies that an individual who satisfies only the regarded as having a disability prong of the disability definition is not entitled to reasonable accommodation, and modifies the language of the ADA to state that discrimination is prohibited against a qualified individual on the basis of disability (the provision originally prohibited discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of the individual).