Effective Autism Employment: A Legal Perspective

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When Duane Morris LLP recently hosted a webinar on legal guidelines for “Establishing an Effective Neurodiversity Employment Program,” it expected ten to twenty companies. Instead, over one hundred and twenty companies signed up—one more reflection of the growing interest in autism/neurodiversity employment programs.

As more companies move into serious planning, human resources and in-house legal staff are also faced with tackling some of the implementation challenges. Can an employer utilize a separate recruiting and hiring process for adults with autism or other neurodiverse conditions? If the employer provides job coaches or mentors for participants in an autism program, does the employer need to provide job coaches for all employees? What progressive discipline can be utilized for employees hired under a targeted neurodiversity hiring program?

These questions are posed in legal terms but embedded in them is a key policy challenge. How can an employer best balance an affirmative neurodiversity effort with fairness to other employees and continue to meet the operational needs of the company?