EEOC Publication Addresses Employment Rights of People with Hearing Loss

Editor: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has just released a document entitled " Questions and Answers about Deafness and Hearing Impairments in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act." This supburb discussion contains 28 examples to help clarify these questions:

1. When is a hearing impairment a disability under the ADA?

2. May an employer request medical information about an applicant's hearing impairment that is obvious or that the applicant has disclosed?

3. Does an applicant have to disclose his hearing impairment if it is not obvious?

4. What can an employer do if it learns about an applicant's hearing impairment after offering a job, but before the individual begins working and it believes that the applicant's hearing impairment may affect job performance?

5. When may an employer ask if a hearing impairment or other medical condition is causing performance problems?

6. May an employer require a doctor's note from an employee who asks for sick leave for reasons related to a hearing impairment?

7. Are there other instances when an employer may ask an employee about his hearing impairment?

8. May an employer explain to co-workers that an employee is receiving a reasonable accommodation because of a hearing disability?

9. What type of accommodations may an individual with a hearing disability need?

10. How should someone with a hearing disability request a reasonable accommodation?

11. May an employer request documentation when an individual with a hearing impairment requests a reasonable accommodation?

12. Does an employer have to provide the reasonable accommodation that an individual with a disability wants?

13. Does an employer have to provide accommodations that would be too difficult or expensive?

14. Are there actions an employer is not required to take as reasonable accommodations?

15. Is it a reasonable accommodation for an employer to make sure that an employee wears a hearing aid or uses another mitigating measure?

16. What kinds of reasonable accommodations are related to the "benefits and privileges" of employment?

17. When may an employer prohibit an employee with a hearing disability from doing a job because of safety concerns?

18. What should an employer do when federal law prohibits it from hiring anyone with a certain level of hearing loss?

19. What constitutes illegal harassment under the ADA?

20. What should employers do to prevent and correct harassment?

21. What should someone do who believes that his or her rights under the ADA may have been violated?

For the complete document, please point your browser to http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/deafness.html. Or you can read the EEOC press release below.

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Latest Q&A Fact Sheet Coincides with Anniversary of Landmark Disabilities Act

WASHINGTON - Cari M. Dominguez, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today announced the issuance of a new question-and-answer (Q&A) fact sheet on the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to job applicants and employees who are deaf or who have hearing impairments. The new publication, the sixth in a series of Q&A documents about specific disabilities in the workplace, is available online at http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/deafness.html.

"One goal of this fact sheet is to counter the myth that individuals with some level of hearing loss are generally less competent, less productive, or would require more attention and supervision than their peers who do not have hearing loss," said Chair Dominguez, who announced the issuance of the new document at a town hall meeting sponsored by the National Council on Disability in observance of the 16th anniversary of the ADA.

She added: "As our nation observes the anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, we should be mindful that disability does not mean inability, and that every individual deserves the freedom to compete on a fair and level playing field. People with disabilities represent a vast pool of untapped talent for employers."

The new Q&A publication includes many real-life examples that illustrate the kinds of jobs that people with hearing loss successfully perform and the wide range of accommodations available. Topics addressed in the document include:When a hearing loss is a disability under the ADA; When an employer may ask an applicant or employee about a hearing impairment and what it should do if an applicant voluntarily discloses the impairment; What type of reasonable accommodation an applicant or employee with a hearing disability may need; and What an employer should do if it has safety concerns about an applicant or employee with a hearing impairment.

According to published reports, between 2000 and 2004, estimates of the number of people in the United States with a self-described "hearing difficulty" ranged from 28.6 million to 31.5 million. A "hearing difficulty" can refer to the effects of many different hearing impairments of varying degrees. The number of individuals with hearing difficulty is expected to rise rapidly by the year 2010 when the baby-boomer generation reaches age 65. As compared to other age groups, the percentage of individuals with hearing difficulty is greatest among those individuals age 65 and above.

EEOC's latest ADA publication helps to advance the goals of the New Freedom Initiative, President George W. Bush's comprehensive strategy for the full integration of people with disabilities into all aspects of American life. The New Freedom Initiative seeks to promote greater access to technology, education, employment opportunities, and community life for people with disabilities. An important part of the New Freedom Initiative strategy for increasing employment opportunities involves providing employers with technical assistance on the ADA.