Workers' Compensation and Disability Discrimination

Workers’ compensation coverage doesn’t automatically establish that a person is protected by the ADA or FEHA. Moreover, workers’ compensation and disability laws impose different obligations on employers. An employer shouldn’t assume that just because it complied with workers’ compensation laws, it also met its obligations under disability laws. For more information, see Workers’ Compensation.

You can’t refuse to allow an employee with a disability to return to work even if that individual isn’t fully recovered from a work-related injury, unless you can show that:

• The individual can’t perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable