Managers are usually sticklers about attendance, but Verizonrecently learned an expensive lesson about its mandatory attendancepolicies from a 2011 class action lawsuit by employees and theEEOC. The suit asserted that Verizon denied reasonableaccommodations to several hundred employees, disciplining or firingthem for missing too many days of work and refusing to makeexceptions for those whose absences were caused by theirdisabilities. According to the EEOC, Verizon violated the ADAbecause its no-fault attendance policy was an inflexible and“unreasonable” one-size-fits-all rule. The EEOC required Verizon topay $20 million to settle the suit, the largest single disabilitydiscrimination settlement in the agency’s history. The settlementalso forced Verizon to change its attendance policy to includereasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. A thirdrequirement was that Verizon provide regular training on ADArequirements to all mangers responsible for administeringattendance policies.
What are some specific rules that would fit within a fair andreasonable attendance policy?
How would you decide whether an employee was taking advantage ofan absenteeism policy?
