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Understanding the New Disability and Genetic Discrimination Laws of 2008 
Learn how disability will be defined under the new Amendments Act and how to avoid discriminating against those who have a genetic marker for a disease.
An employer was required to compensate an employee for 3.8 hours of missed time after she took an unpaid excused absence to attend a doctor's appointment for reevaluation of a work-related injury that was scheduled by the employer's workers' compensation administrator, ruled the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Under 29 CFR §785.43 of the DOL regulations, time spent by an employee receiving medical attention on the premises or at the direction of the employer during the employee's normal working hours constitutes hours worked (Copeland v ABB, Inc, 8thCir, 155 LC ¶35,416).
After the employee suffered a work-related injury, she received extensive medical treatment. On the occasion in question, the employee left work to attend a doctor's that was scheduled during her regular shift. The employer offered to compensate the employee for the time missed, but advised her that it would deduct that time from her accrued paid leave benefits. Instead, the employee opted to take an unpaid excused absence so she would not lose any accrued paid leave benefits. However, because employee chose to take an unpaid absence, she was never compensated for 3.8 hours of missed time.
In this instance, the appeals court determined that the employer failed to refute that the appointment was made at its direction because the employer's third-party worker's compensation administrator scheduled the appointment and directed the employee to attend. Moreover, the employer's argument that it never authorized the third-party administrator of its worker's compensation program to make an appointment for the employee also failed. Rather, because the administrator was acting as the employer's agent when it directed the employee to attend the appointment, the employer must compensate the employee for the missed time.
For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.
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