[blindlaw] Questions About Working Overtime due to Blindness

Tai Tomasi ttomasi at driowa.org
Sat Jan 19 22:07:31 UTC 2019


I only bill The amount the legal task actually takes without the time I am using to make things accessible etc. as such, I agree with the approach Dr. Harpur explained.

Tai Tomasi, J.D., M.P.A.
Email: ttomasi at driowa.org<mailto:ttomasi at driowa.org>
Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse my brevity and any grammatical errors.

On Jan 19, 2019, at 3:07 PM, Paul Harpur via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindlaw at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

There was an interesting discussion about asking for reduced billables as a reasonable accommodation on this mailing list a short while ago which you may wish to read the responses of.
As for being lawful to work more than you claim - I know a lot of lawyers who put on their timesheets what something should take rather than what they really do.  This is problematic if you charge clients more than you actually do, but if you essentially donate time to your client and employer this is not going against ethics go.  Most people that do this want to look efficient and this is whether or not they have a disability.  I am not saying this is good, and it is probably not lawful as per labor laws, but on the basis I am working on a Sunday morning you can probably understand how I approach it in practice.


Dr Paul Harpur
BBus (HRm), LLB (Hons) LLM, PhD, solicitor of the High Court of Australia (non-practicing)
Fulbright Future Scholar/International Distinguished Fellow, Burton Blatt Institute, SU, New York.
Senior Lecturer

TC Beirne School of Law
The University of Queensland
Brisbane Qld 4072 Australia

T +61 7 3365 8864 M +61 417 635 609
E p.harpur at law.uq.edu.au<mailto:p.harpur at law.uq.edu.au> TCB Profile/Google Citation Page
CRICOS code: 00025B




Scientia ac Labore

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-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michal Nowicki via BlindLaw
Sent: Sunday, 20 January 2019 5:44 AM
To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindlaw at nfbnet.org>>
Cc: Michal Nowicki <mnowicki4 at icloud.com<mailto:mnowicki4 at icloud.com>>
Subject: [blindlaw] Questions About Working Overtime due to Blindness

Hi Everyone,

I recently interviewed for a temporary attorney position that pays by the hour. It is my understanding that attorneys in this position work 40 hours per week, though I do not know if overtime is allowed. Although I have not yet been offered the job, I have been wondering what to do if I get it, and if I ever need to work more than 40 hours in a given week due to my blindness to meet deadlines. While I would be happy to “gift” my employer the extra time (that is, work more than 40 hours as needed to finish a task on time, but agree to forego compensation for the extra hours), I am not sure if doing so would be legal under applicable wage laws. Obviously, I do not want to advise an employer to break the law.

That being said, can any of you answer any of the following questions:
1. If I am not supposed to work more than 40 hours per week, may I nonetheless work additional hours if I need the extra time due to disability-related barriers to complete an assignment on time?
2. If working additional hours qualifies as a reasonable accommodation under these circumstances, how should compensation for the extra time be handled? Must I be paid the regular hourly rate, the overtime rate (if applicable), or may I gift my employer any hours beyond 40?

Any thoughts on these issues would be highly appreciated.

Best,

Michal
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