April 2025 Iowa Q&A Roundup

Q       We have an employee who’s been on an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) leave of absence since 2023, and the employee has provided medical documentation to extend the leave. After we requested clarification, the medical provider said the employee has a 50% likelihood of returning by September 1. Should this 50% chance be considered a reasonable accommodation?

Reasonable accommodation doesn’t depend on just one factor. Is this absence something you can continue to accommodate? Do you have to hire other staff to cover, or are existing staff pulling overtime to address the issue? How long will it take to fill the job? All of these are valid questions, but your scenario seems to indicate the employee has been out for more than a year and will be out even longer. This appears to be an open and undetermined leave well past any leave allotment and is more likely to support a determination that this isn’t a reasonable request.

Q        Can employment verifications and reference checks be used before a conditional employment offer is made, or are they to be used only after an offer is made and accepted?