Who Is Your ADA Officer?

Three years after the passing of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) we are still having trouble with the the basic parts of the legislation. According to the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) there will most likely be over 15,000 complaints filed by October, 1993-25% more than they estimated for that period of time.

Do you have an ADA Officer? Every financial institution should have one person knowledgeable about all parts of the legislation, and able to translate them to affected areas. That ADA officer should do an "audit" into every part of your shop - hiring practices, job requirements, work environment, access and accommodation. And all of the procedures should be documented. If you are sued, you want to be able to prove you "did all you could reasonably be expected to do."

Have you remained flexible and accommodating in your thinking? Sometimes it takes as little as moving furniture, or putting blocks of wood under table legs to raise them to help disabled employees do their work. Take a look around.

Have you talked to non-profit groups and/or disabled employees to get their input on what you might do? (And document your meetings!) Very often what they suggest may be cheaper and more useful than ideas you get from contractors or consultants.

Try not to be one of those 15,000 lawsuits in 1993.

Copyright © 1993 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 4, No. 4, 9/93

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