Why Having an Accurate Job Description Matters

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

Regardless of whether your workforce in Idaho is 20 or 2,000, any organization that has employees will benefit from having well written, accurate job descriptions for its employees. Drafting effective and accurate job descriptions in an Idaho Employment Agreement eliminates unnecessary confusion. It also helps ensure that all duties of the job are assigned efficiently. Most importantly, accurate job descriptions may help protect an Idaho Employer when things go bad.

Why Does Having a Written, Accurate Job Description Matter?

The best way to evidence the importance of having written accurate job descriptions is through the bad experiences other employers have. A recent decision from the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals illustrates that if you’re going to claim that a job function is essential, the employer should include it in the written job description.

In Henschel v. Clare County Road Commission (6th Cir. 12/13/13), Wayne Henschel worked as an excavator operator for the Clare County Road Commission. He lost his left leg above the knee in non-work related motorcycle accident. After this unfortunate accident, Henschel returned to work expecting to continue his employment. His employer refused to permit him to continue operating the excavator. The employer claimed that the ability to haul the excavator to the job site, which Henschel could no longer do because of his injury, was an essential function of the job. As a result, Henschel lost his job. He sued his employer and claimed that his termination violated the Americans with Disabilities Act requirement for a reasonable accommodation that would no longer require him to haul the excavator to the job site. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the employer finding that Henschel could no longer perform the essential functions of the job and that his termination was legal. However, the 6^th Circuit reversed this decision. Among the factors that the 6^th Circuit analyzed and relied on to reverse the trial court’s decision was the fact that the employer had omitted the hauling function from its written Operator-Excavator job description. In other words, because it wasn’t listed in the written job description, the 6^th Circuit found that this job requirement couldn’t be relied upon by the employer as an essential job function.

Whether a job function is included in a job description is only one of several factors courts in Idaho Employment cases normally consider in determining whether that function is essential to the job. 　The most common factors that courts rely on are as follows:

The employer’s judgment as to which functions are essential;
Written job descriptions prepared before advertising or interviewing applicants for the job;
The amount of time spent on the job performing the function;
The consequences of not requiring the incumbent to perform the function;
The terms of a collective bargaining agreement;
The experience of past incumbents in the job; or
The current work experience of incumbents in similar jobs.

In the Henschel case, the 6^th Circuit determined that the exclusion of hauling from the Operator-Excavator job description was not dispositive in the case, but it certainly didn’t help the employer’s cause. It was a factor that the very item the employer relied upon in terminating Henschel wasn’t even listed on the written job description.

What We Learn From Henschel

What is it that employers can take away and learn from the Henschel case? Here are the practical takeaways that employers should consider:

Idaho Employers should have written job descriptions for each position in their organization. They not only help establish reasonable expectations for what an Idaho Employer can expect from its employees in a position, but it also helps set a baseline for what the Idaho Employer can do, or do not, to reasonably accommodate. An Idaho Employer must provide a reasonable accommodation to enable a disabled employee to perform the essential functions of a job;
Accuracy counts. It is hard to establish a job function as essential if it’s omitted from a written job description.
Conversely, just because and Idaho Employer lists a function as “essential” doesn’t mean a court has to take their word for it. If the other six factors listed above cut against the Idaho Employer, it will have a hard time showing that a job function is essential no matter what the documents says.
As jobs change, so should their written descriptions. It’s not enough to file away a job description after it’s prepared. Every Idaho Employer should periodically review each job description to make sure it’s current, and updated when needed because of changes to the job.

If you have any questions about whether your Employment Job Descriptions are adequate, call us toll free at 877-232-6101 or 208-232-6101 for a consultation with Lane Erickson and the Racine Olson team of Employment Law attorneys in Idaho. You can also email Lane Erickson directly at lve@racinelaw.net. We will answer your Idaho Employment Law questions and will help you solve your Idaho Employment Law problems.

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