At a time when government agencies are spewing senseless regulations, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) appears to have gotten it right with a new set of regulations to amend the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Enforcement Guidance document, issued by the EEOC on March 24, restores a more appropriate interpretation of the ADA without imposing undue burdens on the business community, according to the Chamber.

“While we have not had time to fully assess them, it is my initial impression that the Commission has taken steps to address the concerns that we and other stakeholders raised,” Executive Director of Labor Policy Mike Eastman wrote on the ChamberPost blog. “In the end, the final regulation is much more consistent with the compromise we struck in 2008 and the legislation enacted by Congress.”

Eastman was referring to the 2008 law that expanded federal protection of employees with disabilities. The U.S. Chamber was instrumental in working with the disability and civil rights community to draft and pass the compromise legislation.

The EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance outlines the instances in which employers must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Accommodations can include making existing facilities accessible, job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, or granting leaves of absence.

The guidance also outlines the conditions that should be considered a disability, including diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, and bipolar disorder. Previously, employees with those conditions were not covered by the law in the federal courts, which tended to narrowly interpret the definition of disability under the ADA.

For more information on ADA and other equal employment opportunity issues, visit www.uschamber.com/issues/index/labor/eeo.htm.