Limited Scheduling

Some employees are limited in the number of hours they can work. In some cases, these limitations are permanent while in other cases they may be temporary. When scheduling limitations are temporary, it may be reasonable to make temporary changes to an employee’s schedule and then return the employee to his or her regular schedule once the limitations are gone. When a reduced schedule is needed temporarily, the employee may be able to use leave time to account for the reduced schedule.

When an employee’s limited scheduling is long term or permanent, the employer may want to make a change to the employee’s status. For example, if the employee can only work part time, the employer may want to change the employee to part time status in terms of pay and benefits. Under the ADA, an employer can make this change as long as that’s what the employer would do when employees without disabilities work part time.

The following information is from a publication by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at https://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/accommodation.html#modified

An employee receiving a part-time schedule as a reasonable accommodation is entitled only to the benefits, including health insurance, that other part-time employees receive. Thus, if non- disabled part-time workers are not provided with health insurance, then the employer does not have to provide such coverage to an employee with a disability who is given a part-time schedule as a reasonable accommodation.