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This blog introduces you to our video titled “The 5 Essential Components of a Medical Exemption Letter.” You are welcome to hit the link provided at the end and review it. As a brief background to our video, we have been very vocal in working with nurses and medical professionals who needed medical exemptions from taking the COVID-19 vaccine, in line with the rights provided for under the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”). In the spirit of providing them with legal counsel and support, we continue responding to the influx of questions flowing in as a result of this matter. In this video, we have provided you with critical information on what you need to know and have, when you seek a medical exemption letter from your doctor.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government issued compulsory vaccination mandates. However, due to the medical conditions in certain individuals, some people had to object to the vaccination by seeking a medical exemption. Indeed, the law permits medical exemptions in line with the ADA or Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 (“Title VII”). Unfortunately, most doctors are unwilling to sign and put their name of some paper exempting you from the vaccination. Nonetheless, at a bare minimum, a doctor’s duty is to fill in forms or notice and sign some kind of paperwork in the support of or attestation to your situation or disability, which exempts you from the vaccination. This means that you need your standard medical professional to provide the necessary information for your employer so that they can evaluate whether you are entitled to the medical exemption or not.

So, what are the prerequisites to the medical exemption? Generally speaking, the law requires that you disclose the medical issue (disability) to your employer. If your issue is pregnancy, remember the scenario under which a pregnancy qualifies to be a disability, as discussed in our video accessible at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn1SvvwPAwU. In turn, the employer engages you in interactive dialogue. Usually, the employer will ask what supporting evidence you might have the said medical issue and upon which you need a medical exemption to be granted. At this point, you should have devised a reasonable accommodation with your medical provider, which could assist you to carry on with the essential functions of your job so long as you have that exemption.

On their part, your employer does not need to conduct an in-depth inquiry into your disability or medical issue for which you require an accommodation. The employer does not need to get physical about checking on the said disability or ask how it happened, started, or why you did what you did to find yourself in that situation. They are simply supposed to rely on the specific information provided by your doctor in making the decision as to whether you should be provided with the accommodation/exemption or not.

Regarding the current situation with registered nurses, we are afraid to say that the doctors are providing absurdly weak letters and recommendations towards your medical issues and why you need the accommodation. Of course, as we mentioned above, we understand that doctors are afraid of putting their names and signatures of papers. However, at the end of the day, some key information must be featured in your letter so that it can be convincing enough before your employer as well as meet the required minimum that would be necessary to encouraged such exemption to be granted.

Having said much about, here are the 5 essential components of a medical exemption letter.

Employer/Employee Information

Some of the crucial information you need here include the name of your employer, their contact, location, address, and industry/field of practice. On your part, you need to provide information such as your job title, regular schedule, essential functions of your job, and how your medical issues/disability/situation interfere/hamper those essential functions.

Health Care Provider Information

The letter should cover the name of your healthcare provider, their address and contact information (email, fax, and phone number), their medical specialty, and any other relevant information they might wish to include in the letter.

Medical Information

The letter should also capture your medical issue at a very high level, specific enough to advise as to what it is at this time, but with a permissible degree of discretion (only what the employer needs to know). A good rule of thumb is to provide the start and end date of this condition (if applicable), and how long the issue is expected to last. It is vital to capture this information because from a legal perspective, the law provides a number of covered issues, disabilities, and conditions that an employer is obliged to provide the medical exemption.

Amount of Leave, Duration of Accommodation Required

Next, the letter needs to capture the specific and reasonable accommodation you need in terms of timing and scheduling. For instance, it should indicate whether you need to take leave (in the case of an issue like high-risk pregnancy), work remotely, a reduced or completely different schedule, or a change/reduction in your essential functions.

Interaction between Essential Job Functions & Accommodations

Finally, the letter should wrap up things back to where we started. At this point, you need to connect your essential job functions and the condition you are having and show where the problem/conflict lies.

Let us look at a scenario.

Your employer requires that being on site (physically present at work) is part of your essential job functions, but you cannot because, due to your situation or medical issue/condition, you have not taken the jab in line with the vaccination mandates. In this case, the letter needs to capture that you cannot be on site because your situation or medical issue/condition interferes with how you carry out the essential functions or whatever reason for which you need the accommodation.

In a nutshell, you should arm yourself with a letter that captures these five essential components as you seek for the medical exemption from your employer. While such a letter will reinforce your case, the law is clear that your employer should provide with reasonable accommodation following such an evaluation. Therefore, seek it and do not be cowed or muzzled!!

Feel welcome to review our video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43A7WRVw_fM and, as always, stay tuned for more guidance, training, and counsel. In the interim, if there are any questions or comments, please let us know at the Contact Us page!

Always rising above the bar,

Isaac T.,

Legal Writer & Author.