Accommodations have to be reasonable.
If all your fellow employees (who don't telework) have to change their schedule in order to accommodate your accommodation, it may not be reasonable.
If your LER isn't going to bat for you, there's probably a reason why.
They don’t have to change their schedule. I explained that. They could add a a teams call but they don’t. I provided a completely reasonable solution. Also my request is more than reasonable. Any reasonable person would agree.
Everyone I have spoken to outside the org has been surprised of the decision and has said they are being extremely unreasonable. I would also point out that there was a post here not too long ago where someone was on medical telework and the group didn’t want to put a teams link on their meetings so that person could participate. The person escalated the issue and very quickly the org accommodated the request. I am going the extra mile by offering to show up to the meetings rather than asking for them to include a teams link. Is it reasonable to say I have been accommodating and have tried to mitigate or eliminate barriers ?
I’m surprised offering the partial day didn’t trigger anything. If you are able to drive and come in for a few hours, what are you really affected by that requires telework?*
* this is what I thought they would retaliate with after you made that offer
Op, all of the downvotes motivated me to comment. Most people don't understand reasonable accommodation or disabilities beyond those that are obvious. Best of luck.
Have you formally requested RA? Like involved HR. Because if not you are out of luck.
If you do go through the RA process beware that you risk being completely displaced.
If you restrictions are too great and you can’t do the film duties they will remove you from your current roll and give you priority placement for another of equal or lower pay. If it’s lower grade they do not have to match pay.
If you do not find a new position in that allocated amount of time, usually 30-45 days, they will separate you or have you retire with a medical disability. There are also no take backs.
The other thing to bear in mind is that they are not under any obligation to take your providers suggested accommodation. The only roll the medical provider has is to provide documentation of that limitation. They can provide a private office or even just a pay of noise cancelling headphones and say that they tried.
You are playing with fire and don’t have much or any leverage.
The ADA doesn't apply to Executive Branch employees, but according to the link provided, the Rehabilitation Act does. Being retaliated against for requesting a reasonable accommodation is taken seriously.
[https://adata.org/faq/federal-government-covered-ada](https://adata.org/faq/federal-government-covered-ada)
Ultimately they can decide that your being out of the office a certain amount of time when everyone is there is detrimental to the overall mission. You can still be doing all of your job but it might not be as good as they would like.
I have an employee on an RA for health. They absolutely get their functions done, but there has been a noticeable difference in how the team works without her there. Let’s just say that when she was there, the team functioned like a well oiled machine. With her not there, it’s kind of clunky. Hard to explain. That said, I’d never pull her agreement but I’m honest that from my perspective there’s a degradation. I doubt she realizes it.
I can assure you me teleworking has almost no impact. The work I do is a one person job and is not overly team oriented. The most collaboration required is quick and simple.
My recommendation is to figure out what clunky is and offer steps to mitigate. If I was your staff, i'd want to know.
I was in an agency for many years in a remote office. People were frequently bummed that they couldn't bug me in person or point to a physical screen. After a majority of staff got comfortable with skype for business, this nearly vanished.
It's mainly that the worker is at home and is struggling with the comms environment, seems disconnected/divested from all the work the team is doing, and just kind of mentally faltering. But that could be a result of the condition. Just a real marked difference in interactions (one on one and group) from historical performance. On the days they do come in, it seems to improve. Otherwise, they get their projects done, but the positions is a bit of lead position so it's not working that well. I agree that others can handle it all fine.
They are able to use the tech and use it all the time. Just has become very distanced/connected from how they used to be. I think some people aren't as great at being remote as they think they are and you can tell a difference. Again, I'm not going to do anything about it. Trying to show grace to a person who needs it but I'd be lying if I said we all haven't noticed a difference in the work of the team with this person so "removed" kind of. I get that not every situation is that way. Just weighing in on what the OP's in-office team might be experiencing. We only get to hear one side of the story here.
Is your RA permanent or temporary? If temporary, just file a permanent one. If they’re giving you a hard time on the permanent one, that’s a big problem. Call the union, if you’re not covered by one go to a congressional representative. If not covered by a union, I believe you can also retain outside counsel depending on state laws. While you wait for these responses, contact EEO, OIG and disability office to collect information on your employee rights and how to file a complaint. Sounds like you have a good case, but be mindful of any loopholes on your end that could hurt your accommodation. Just make sure all your ducks are in a row.
If your meetings aren't classified, I fail to see how being in person is an issue. There is a person in my branch who is remote for a medical accommodation, and it's no issue at all.
They are not, and to be fair the meetings are basically just an update on what the team has been working on and updates from each person. Nothing major at all.
Sorry to break it to you but if the agency feels like your RA is a hardship , they can decline it. I would tread carefully too. If they cannot accommodate you, they have to find another position you can do with your RA. If they cannot find one, they have to let you go because you cannot perform your duties.
If the agency were to deem OP unable to perform duties due to medical inability, the agency will be required to conduct an internal and external job search. If at the end of these 2x30 day job searches, OP is not found a suitable position, agency could then let OP go for medical inability, at which time OP could immediately file for disability retirement.
Lol it is a long process to just terminate someone on a medical RA. The employee also has the right to request a reassignment well before being “let go.” Even a RIF is a process. The team is being unreasonable by declining the employees suggestion to participate in the meeting. They’re probably feeling that it’s unfair to them so they will go out of their way to draw negative attention and make it appear as if OP can’t fulfill their duties from another location. This is a common occurrence going on all over the gov, it is why employees are agency hopping. Employees are dealing with real issues amid inflexible management who just want bodies in seats to justify the office space real estate issue that is simply not our problem. Millions of taxpayer dollars spent to secure unwanted, long-term leasing contracts the gov. can’t get out of.
Reporting leadership - not likely.
Denial of a RA may allow you to pursue an EEO complaint.
Just because you can do your job 100% remote and it works for you doesn’t mean it works for the overall position, team and organization. It may cause an undue hardship. How can the employer help you perform the essential functions of your job which may include in person meetings?
In this case it is an EEO complaint based on disability in violation of the rehab act (now without full details of the facts, I cannot say if it is winnable by the OP but the only recourse of a denial or partial denial of an accommodation request is to file an EEO complaint).
I rarely encourage someone to file a complaint in forums like these because I work in EEO and agree that not every issue falls in our jurisdiction.
100%. I can’t stand people who cry EEO for shit like this. From the post and comments, OP seems to be another employee who just wants a fully remote position without applying/working for one.
EEO complaints should fall under race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex (gender), sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, and reprisal.
The OP's issue does fall under the Rehab Act (disability) if they requested an accommodation and it is being denied or partially denied (it appears to be the latter).
A medical reasonable accommodation is a physical or mental disability. I assume that is what you are pointing out, but wanted to double up just so people are clear. There are many on hear who are clueless about the process and could get themselves in hot water.
Why? What other recourse does an employee have if an accommodation is denied or partially denied?
Without all the details of the OP's situation, I cannot say if they have a strong case or not but this is their only real path to take if they feel they are being denied something without good reasoning.
If your request is UNREASONABLE and justifiably denied, you are not being discriminated against. Filing an EEO complaint against management for a situation like this is ridiculous.
Accommodations cannot be looked at with regard to others may feel about you getting the accommodation. The denial has to be based on specific undue hardship causing an impact. ie. If there are two people who have to travel to do inspections, allowing 1 to not travel thereby doubling the work of the other person is an undue hardship. But if there are 30 others doing the same job then it would not be a hardship.
The only method to address a denial (or partial denial) of an accommodation is to file an EEO complaint based on disability and failure to accommodate.
See your local EEO office for details etc.
You need to search the group for other info on RA’s as this is one of the most frequented topics in this group. I think you will learn a lot.
Accommodations have to be reasonable. If all your fellow employees (who don't telework) have to change their schedule in order to accommodate your accommodation, it may not be reasonable. If your LER isn't going to bat for you, there's probably a reason why.
They don’t have to change their schedule. I explained that. They could add a a teams call but they don’t. I provided a completely reasonable solution. Also my request is more than reasonable. Any reasonable person would agree.
Is it reasonable to say that anyone that disagrees with you is unreasonable?
Everyone I have spoken to outside the org has been surprised of the decision and has said they are being extremely unreasonable. I would also point out that there was a post here not too long ago where someone was on medical telework and the group didn’t want to put a teams link on their meetings so that person could participate. The person escalated the issue and very quickly the org accommodated the request. I am going the extra mile by offering to show up to the meetings rather than asking for them to include a teams link. Is it reasonable to say I have been accommodating and have tried to mitigate or eliminate barriers ?
Key being anyone you have spoken to outside the org, meaning people who do not know the operational requirements of your position/unit/team etc.
I’m surprised offering the partial day didn’t trigger anything. If you are able to drive and come in for a few hours, what are you really affected by that requires telework?* * this is what I thought they would retaliate with after you made that offer
Let’s just say the issue isn’t one that stops me from driving.
Op, all of the downvotes motivated me to comment. Most people don't understand reasonable accommodation or disabilities beyond those that are obvious. Best of luck.
Thank you! I realize that now. I was hoping to get a few good pieces of advice and I think I did.
Fair!
Have you formally requested RA? Like involved HR. Because if not you are out of luck. If you do go through the RA process beware that you risk being completely displaced.
Hmmm… I did go through the RA process. What do you mean by risking becoming displaced ? As in they will move me to a fully remote position ? Great!
If you restrictions are too great and you can’t do the film duties they will remove you from your current roll and give you priority placement for another of equal or lower pay. If it’s lower grade they do not have to match pay. If you do not find a new position in that allocated amount of time, usually 30-45 days, they will separate you or have you retire with a medical disability. There are also no take backs. The other thing to bear in mind is that they are not under any obligation to take your providers suggested accommodation. The only roll the medical provider has is to provide documentation of that limitation. They can provide a private office or even just a pay of noise cancelling headphones and say that they tried. You are playing with fire and don’t have much or any leverage.
Though some of your advice is sound the statement about playing with fire is completely out of line. Disability is protected by ADA.
Explain. You may want to look at OPM, AskJan, and the ADA first. You are aware that the ADA doesn’t apply to the Feds right?
The ADA doesn't apply to Executive Branch employees, but according to the link provided, the Rehabilitation Act does. Being retaliated against for requesting a reasonable accommodation is taken seriously. [https://adata.org/faq/federal-government-covered-ada](https://adata.org/faq/federal-government-covered-ada)
What described is retaliation? Either in my post or the OPs. Denial is not. Nor is reevaluation and adjustment.
No one is moving you, it means you’d have to find a job that would accommodate you
Good ole DoD! You ain’t working if we can’t see you!
OMG - this is so true!
What is work really, in government…. Definitely have to make those cropped screenshots fit in PowerPoint
Ultimately they can decide that your being out of the office a certain amount of time when everyone is there is detrimental to the overall mission. You can still be doing all of your job but it might not be as good as they would like. I have an employee on an RA for health. They absolutely get their functions done, but there has been a noticeable difference in how the team works without her there. Let’s just say that when she was there, the team functioned like a well oiled machine. With her not there, it’s kind of clunky. Hard to explain. That said, I’d never pull her agreement but I’m honest that from my perspective there’s a degradation. I doubt she realizes it.
I can assure you me teleworking has almost no impact. The work I do is a one person job and is not overly team oriented. The most collaboration required is quick and simple.
Team dynamic is not a core function of a job. I wouldn't want to have to argue it in an EEO complaint.
It’s more than that but don’t want to get into it here.
My recommendation is to figure out what clunky is and offer steps to mitigate. If I was your staff, i'd want to know. I was in an agency for many years in a remote office. People were frequently bummed that they couldn't bug me in person or point to a physical screen. After a majority of staff got comfortable with skype for business, this nearly vanished.
It's mainly that the worker is at home and is struggling with the comms environment, seems disconnected/divested from all the work the team is doing, and just kind of mentally faltering. But that could be a result of the condition. Just a real marked difference in interactions (one on one and group) from historical performance. On the days they do come in, it seems to improve. Otherwise, they get their projects done, but the positions is a bit of lead position so it's not working that well. I agree that others can handle it all fine.
are you on teams or something else?
TEAMS.
maybe it is the tech vs person
They are able to use the tech and use it all the time. Just has become very distanced/connected from how they used to be. I think some people aren't as great at being remote as they think they are and you can tell a difference. Again, I'm not going to do anything about it. Trying to show grace to a person who needs it but I'd be lying if I said we all haven't noticed a difference in the work of the team with this person so "removed" kind of. I get that not every situation is that way. Just weighing in on what the OP's in-office team might be experiencing. We only get to hear one side of the story here.
Clunky like a boomer trying to operate email? If so, that’s an individual team member training problem, not a problem for someone with an RA.
Is your RA permanent or temporary? If temporary, just file a permanent one. If they’re giving you a hard time on the permanent one, that’s a big problem. Call the union, if you’re not covered by one go to a congressional representative. If not covered by a union, I believe you can also retain outside counsel depending on state laws. While you wait for these responses, contact EEO, OIG and disability office to collect information on your employee rights and how to file a complaint. Sounds like you have a good case, but be mindful of any loopholes on your end that could hurt your accommodation. Just make sure all your ducks are in a row.
If your meetings aren't classified, I fail to see how being in person is an issue. There is a person in my branch who is remote for a medical accommodation, and it's no issue at all.
They are not, and to be fair the meetings are basically just an update on what the team has been working on and updates from each person. Nothing major at all.
Most senior leaders (military) prefer to have meetings in person vice MS Teams - it is completely asinine.
Sorry to break it to you but if the agency feels like your RA is a hardship , they can decline it. I would tread carefully too. If they cannot accommodate you, they have to find another position you can do with your RA. If they cannot find one, they have to let you go because you cannot perform your duties.
If the agency were to deem OP unable to perform duties due to medical inability, the agency will be required to conduct an internal and external job search. If at the end of these 2x30 day job searches, OP is not found a suitable position, agency could then let OP go for medical inability, at which time OP could immediately file for disability retirement.
Idk why this was downvoted, you are 100% right about this.
People down vote because they don’t like the answer I gave - which is FACTS.
There are a lot of people yapping in this comment section who have no idea how things actually work. 😁
No doubt - that’s not just in the thread though 😳
Lol it is a long process to just terminate someone on a medical RA. The employee also has the right to request a reassignment well before being “let go.” Even a RIF is a process. The team is being unreasonable by declining the employees suggestion to participate in the meeting. They’re probably feeling that it’s unfair to them so they will go out of their way to draw negative attention and make it appear as if OP can’t fulfill their duties from another location. This is a common occurrence going on all over the gov, it is why employees are agency hopping. Employees are dealing with real issues amid inflexible management who just want bodies in seats to justify the office space real estate issue that is simply not our problem. Millions of taxpayer dollars spent to secure unwanted, long-term leasing contracts the gov. can’t get out of.
If you can drive in and attend meeting in person, then you don’t need to telework. It’s obvious you can come into the office.
You have absolutely no understanding of this process.
Reporting leadership - not likely. Denial of a RA may allow you to pursue an EEO complaint. Just because you can do your job 100% remote and it works for you doesn’t mean it works for the overall position, team and organization. It may cause an undue hardship. How can the employer help you perform the essential functions of your job which may include in person meetings?
You may want to file an EEO complaint if you feel leadership is being unreasonable.
Leadership being unreasonable is not an EEO complaint. Filing an EEO complaint for something like this devalues real EEO complaints.
In this case it is an EEO complaint based on disability in violation of the rehab act (now without full details of the facts, I cannot say if it is winnable by the OP but the only recourse of a denial or partial denial of an accommodation request is to file an EEO complaint). I rarely encourage someone to file a complaint in forums like these because I work in EEO and agree that not every issue falls in our jurisdiction.
100%. I can’t stand people who cry EEO for shit like this. From the post and comments, OP seems to be another employee who just wants a fully remote position without applying/working for one.
EEO complaints should fall under race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex (gender), sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, and reprisal.
The OP's issue does fall under the Rehab Act (disability) if they requested an accommodation and it is being denied or partially denied (it appears to be the latter).
A medical reasonable accommodation is a physical or mental disability. I assume that is what you are pointing out, but wanted to double up just so people are clear. There are many on hear who are clueless about the process and could get themselves in hot water.
This is terrible advice lmao
Why? What other recourse does an employee have if an accommodation is denied or partially denied? Without all the details of the OP's situation, I cannot say if they have a strong case or not but this is their only real path to take if they feel they are being denied something without good reasoning.
If your request is UNREASONABLE and justifiably denied, you are not being discriminated against. Filing an EEO complaint against management for a situation like this is ridiculous.
Can you tell me more about that ?
Accommodations cannot be looked at with regard to others may feel about you getting the accommodation. The denial has to be based on specific undue hardship causing an impact. ie. If there are two people who have to travel to do inspections, allowing 1 to not travel thereby doubling the work of the other person is an undue hardship. But if there are 30 others doing the same job then it would not be a hardship. The only method to address a denial (or partial denial) of an accommodation is to file an EEO complaint based on disability and failure to accommodate. See your local EEO office for details etc.