If I was hurt on the job and can no longer perform my job duties, canI requestI be put in a job thatI can physically do?
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If I was hurt on the job and can no longer perform my job duties, canI requestI be put in a job thatI can physically do?
I work for a school district. I’ve been on with workers comp for 13 months. I have had friends with similar problems who were forced to resign because the district didn’t have any openings where they could place them.
Asked on January 7, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Idaho
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
As a general matter, an employer is not required to transfer an employee to a new job if he or she cannot do the job that he or she was hired for. If your medical condition now qualifies as a "disability"--which means it must have a failry significant impact, which cannot be ameliorated, on your ability to do some basic life functions (e.g. limits how much you can stand), an employer may have to make "reasonable accomodations" in a job. This would be providing some assistive technology, or modifying duties, to enable the disabled employee to do the job, so long as it is not too costly or disruptive to do so. However, even if the employee qualifies as disabled, if he or she simply can't do the job, even with reasonable accomodations, the employer does not need to move them to a different position.
This does not prevent you from asking, but it does put a limit on the employer's obligations.
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