Advanced Functional Capacity Evaluation and Post-Offer Testing Best Practices Under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Presented Live and In-Person by Roy Matheson, MTM, ADAC

A Matheson Essentials Workshop

The Course

Highly experienced occupational therapists and physical therapists are re-entering the field of employment testing. They join current work evaluation practitioners who appreciate the need to update their knowledge of the federal rules guiding Post-Offer Employment Testing (POET) and Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE). The majority of our students have significant experience in POET and FCE. The cohort has at least five years of work evaluation experience; some have twenty years of experience. Many have achieved status as a content expert in work evaluation.

However, the focus of this one-of-a-kind training is you: we intend to deliver the knowledge you need to serve employers, job applicants, and employees while complying with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Suggestion: if you have not been trained in the administration of a POET or FCE, we recommend that you participate in a high-quality program such as those provided by Matheson Education and Training Solutions (METS). Click here for more information.

Curriculum Progression

The course curriculum includes nine general areas of practice. The curriculum begins with an introduction to the federal guidelines for testing before discussing changes to pre-test clinical policies and procedures. After laying this foundation for practice, the course examines each of the changed aspects of the services you now offer. We then explore the role of physical and cognitive essential function job analysis on valid employment test practices. This section of the training will include a hands-on practicum of a cognitive essential function job analysis tool. This course focuses on increasing your clinical knowledge and set of skills. We will conclude with a discussion of how to begin offering selected services to your local community.

How Your Workers’ Compensation, Stay-at-Work, and POET Testing is Judged

Federal Rule of Evidence 702

Your ‘Opinion’ Counts in Federal Court

Your Work is Now a Medical Examination

       Americans with Disabilities Act Title I (Employment)

      The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 – Disparate Impact

       Uniform Guidelines for Employee Selection Procedures

       Federal Court Guidelines for Testing

       Where State Guidelines Trump Federal Guidelines

The Importance of Selecting a Test Protocol Based on the Phase of Employment

The Four Phases – Only One Protocol Fits Each Phase

Post-Offer Employment Testing Update

       Post-Offer Disparate Impact Class Action Charges

       The ‘Safe for Testing’ Protocol versus the ‘Physical Abilities’ Protocol

When to Deny Testing; When to Deny Employment

Functional Capacity Evaluation Update

        Return-to-Work Functional Capacity Evaluation

        Stay-at-Work Functional Capacity Evaluation

       Physical Effort Analysis under the Law

        Return to Work After Low Physical Effort During Testing

The ‘Safe for Testing’ Protocol versus the ‘Physical Abilities’ Protocol

When to Deny Testing; When to Deny Employment

        How to Avoid the Risks of Reporting Self-Limiting Behavior

        Using Iso Machines in FCE or POET      

        Responding to an Offensive Work Product Critique

Cognitive Essential Function Job Analysis

The Cognitive Essential Function Job Survey™

        Physical Essential Function Job Analysis Update

Expanding Your Practice

       Work Capacity Evaluation for Reasonable Accommodation

       Functional Capacity Evaluation Direct Threat Analysis

ERISA Employment Testing

Medical vs. Non-Medical Fit-for-Duty

Your Guide

Roy Matheson, ADAC has a 30-year background in occupational rehabilitation and ergonomic evaluation training. His initial exposure to employment testing began at the Employment and Rehabilitation Institute of California (ERIC) in 1983. The rehabilitation and work evaluation philosophies at the heart of the medical examination section of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act originated at ERIC under its founder, Dr. Leonard Matheson.

Work tolerance screening, work capacity evaluation (now known as ‘functional capacity evaluation’), and work hardening introduced to the world by Dr. Matheson at the ERIC clinic in the early ’80’s. Roy Matheson’s contribution to the growth of employment testing under the Matheson philosophy spanned the spectrum of development of training programs, software, and equipment used by therapists around the globe.

In 1988, Roy Matheson formed ‘Roy Matheson and Associates, Inc (RMA)’. In 2014, after twenty-six years of hands-on work and constant travel, Roy and Karen Matheson sold the training and software assets of RMA to a trusted group of colleagues. The renamed company, Matheson Education and Training Solutions, LLC (METS) carries the Matheson banner forward today.

A significant factor in the history of RMA/METS was the 2009 publication of Indergard v Georgia-Pacific by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Indergard became a pivotal case for those who practice employment testing. In the ensuing years, Roy transitioned to what is now Reasonable Accommodation, LLC, and https://reasonable accommodation.com and Matheson Essentials. His practice focuses on advising and training employers, government agencies, therapists, and legal counsel in the mechanics of medical examination and reasonable accommodation under ADA Title I, FEHA, and Title VII of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act.

Roy has presented as a keynote speaker, panelist, trainer, or workshop instructor at more than 400 public and private educational events, management training programs, and national conferences. His audience includes managers and staff of federal, state, county, and municipal government entities as well as the full spectrum of corporate entities across the United States, Canada, and six other countries.

Roy sees himself as a trusted adviser in situations requiring clear, well-thought-out guidance in the sometimes emotional environment of employment and disability-related civil rights law.