Final Disability Regulations
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published final regulations on the Americans With Disabilities Act to reflect changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which took effect on January 1, 2009. The new regulations are effective May 24, 2011. Bottom line: It is easier for an individual seeking protection to prove that he or she has a disability and more important than ever for an employer to be vigilant in determining whether it has an affirmative obligation to provide reasonable accommodation.
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), effective November 21, 2009, prohibits employment discrimination based on individuals' genetic information and severely restricts employers, unions, and other covered entities from collecting, acquiring, or publicizing such private medical data. If you are an employer, be sure your policies include genetic information as a protected characteristic if you have 15 or more employees. Also, be sure any medical inquiries made of employees or their health care providers contain the "safe harbor" language recommended by the regulations, effective January 10, 2011, in order to avoid an inadvertent acquisition of genetic information.
Form I-9
On June 1, 2011, the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services published a new "Handbook for Employes," the government's guide to completing Form I-9 to verify a new employee's identity and eligibility to work in the U.S.
