As workplaces reopen, accommodation requests are becoming more varied and complex. This panel will address health-related accommodations in the context of return-to-work mandates. Specifically, the following questions will be addressed:

• What are common medical conditions that elude diagnosis, or that are considered “diagnoses of exclusion”? How do the stereotypes and stigma associated with these conditions contribute to the challenge of providing accommodation?
• What are best practices for drafting initial and follow-up letters to medical professionals? Are employers or unions entitled to communicate directly with an employee’s medical professional?
• How should employers and unions handle medical information that is based solely or largely on an employee’s subjective self-reporting of symptoms? Does the analysis differ for mental health disabilities where diagnoses are largely based on self-reported information?
• When will it be appropriate for an employer to request an Independent Medical Examination (“IME”)? What if an employee is in a safety-sensitive position or the safety of other employees may be at risk? What is the union’s role in this process?
• Can an employee insist on remote work as a form of health-related accommodation? Does an employee’s susceptibility to contracting an illness at the workplace warrant accommodation? Will an employee be entitled to work from home during pregnancy? What is the type and scope of medical information that is required to support these requests?
• Does an employer have a duty to accommodate an employee’s commute to work where the employee has a disability? If so, what is considered reasonable accommodation?
• How should collective agreements and workplace policies be updated to comply with British Columbia’s new restrictions on sick notes for short-term absences? How do these restrictions affect other responsibilities, such as the duty to accommodate?