According to a recent joint-agency blog post, “long COVID”—where some people continue to experience symptoms that can last weeks or months after first contracting COVID-19, even if the initial illness was mild—can (at least sometimes) be a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Long COVID would qualify as a disability under the ADA if it substantially limits one or more major life activities (the same standard as for any other disability). The DOL gave the following examples:

• Long COVID patient has lung damage that causes shortness of breath, fatigue, and related effects—which substantially limits the patient’s respiratory function, among other activities.
• Long COVID patient has lingering intestinal symptoms like pain, vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea—which substantially limits the patient’s gastrointestinal function, among other activities.
• Long COVID patient experiences memory lapses and “brain fog”—which substantially limits the patient’s brain function, concentration, and/or thinking.

The blog clarifies that long COVID is not always an ADA disability, and an individualized assessment is necessary to determine if it substantially limits a major life activity in any given situation. But for employees whose long COVID qualifies as a disability, this means that employers may be required to provide reasonable workplace accommodations.

You can read the full blog posting here. A new DOL webpage includes additional resources about long COVID, including information on requesting and providing job accommodations for individuals who have the condition.

It is important to remember that none of these are official rules of law (like DOL regulations or even EEOC guidance would be). But they do suggest that employers may be dealing with the effects of COVID-19 long after the immediacy of the pandemic has ended, and employers should make sure they are handling requests for disability accommodations appropriately.

By Rebecca D. Bullard, rbullard@dsda.com