August 2026 Iowa Q&A roundup

Q           We have an employee who returned from medical leave but is still unable to perform the job’s essential functions. We’ve worked with the employee and provided additional accommodations, but the employee continues to struggle. If no further accommodations exist that would enable the employee to perform the essential functions without imposing undue hardship, would we risk running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by proceeding with a separation?

It was a good choice on your part to move forward with assessing reasonable accommodations even though all leave had been exhausted. If additional leave isn’t needed, then it’s an ADA/Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) assessment—what the essential functions of the job are, whether they’re being performed, and an interactive discussion regarding accommodation and a further assessment to see if the accommodations allow the person to perform the job. 

If you’ve reached a point where no further accommodations are reasonable and the job isn’t being adequately performed, you could terminate the employee’s position. The ADA/ADAAA is always a question in these situations, and the “close in time “ argument could be made. (The termination was close in time to the leave, so it must be discrimination.)