I just started a new job that I absolutely love. I’m doing work that I love, and my boss is very appreciative of the work I do.
A small downside is that my new workday is from 7 AM - 4 PM, and I have terrible night vision. Because my driving route to work is generally well lit and I’m very familiar with it, I don’t normally have a problem with driving in to work in the morning when it is dark. When it is dark AND rainy and the roads are wet, however, I am in big trouble, as I am very troubled by glare and have difficulty seeing the road, making driving hazardous for me as well as others who are on the road.
I discussed this with my boss yesterday, and asked whether I should formally request an accommodation (giving me permission to come into work late on days when roads are wet during my usual drive time, and make up the time at other times during the work day or work week by shortening my lunch hour or staying later) or if we could have an informal agreement where my department would just work with me on this and allow me to make up the lost time as described.
He is sympathetic with my plight, but seeing as how I work for a very large employer (9000+ employees), his inclination is to go to HR and formally request an accommodation through the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act.) After he brought this up, I did some research and there is case law that upholds asking for scheduling changes due to poor night vision as a reasonable accommodation.
My concern is that I may open a can of worms by going to my ophthalmologist or an optometrist and asking them to provide documentation that it is hazardous for me to drive under dark, rainy conditions and define this as a disability. If I do this, could I set myself up for having my driving privileges forcibly curtailed by such a diagnosis? Would they (or I) be required to report this diagnosis to the DMV? I recognize that I have a problem and manage it responsibly; I know my limitations and avoid driving under conditions that I know exceed my abilities.
Any experience or thoughts on this? I live in North Carolina.
I see my ophthalmologist every 6 months to follow a fairly uncommon underlying condition (polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy), and my doctor (a retina specialist) has remarked that I have very strange retinas in that they have a corrugated surface, whereas retinas are supposed to be smooth. Neither he nor the optometrist I see every couple of years to update my contact lens prescription have ever mentioned any evidence of cataracts.
This has been a problem for me since my early to mid 30’s, or about 20 years now. When it first became an issue for me, every time I asked about it, I was just told something along the lines of “It sucks to get old.” To be honest, I’ve quit asking about it.
According to the Low Vision Resource Center, as long as you can pass the vision test when you renew your license your driving would be unrestricted. If you fail the vision test, then various restrictions are put in place dependent upon what your vision can be corrected to. One only loses the ability to drive at night if their vision can only be corrected to 20/100.
Driving in the dark when you have poor night vision is a serious problem. You really should do something, though I can’t recommend what.** Amberlei **suggests you won’t lose your license, which sounds reasonable considering who they let drive already. I’d pursue an informal accomodation through HR, and then the re-evaluate if they won’t do that.
Except for handful of days in December how often does this matter?
Right. I’m not sure of all 50 state laws, but in my state so long as you can read the letters through the lens that is contained at the DMV, you will get an unrestricted license. They don’t care about anything else related to vision.
I second (or third or fourth) the advice to go to HR, for another reason – management turnover. Your current manager may be willing to make an informal accommodation, but what if you get a new one who’s less, um, accommodating?
Get the accommodation documented in HR. It will protect you and your manager (in case someone in your department starts to complain about your work hours.)
OP, are there any other options that might be even less disruptive* than variably flexible work hours? For instance, is there any possible way you could carpool?
*not my favorite choice of word, but I’m having trouble thinking of a more suitable one right now.
Thank you for that link, Amberlei. It’s very informative. My vision is currently correctable to 20/20 in both eyes; it sometimes comes out as 20/30 in my left eye because I wear a bifocal contact in that eye, and in practice the overall distance correction doesn’t come out as advertised. I don’t generally have trouble passing the eye exam for renewal, though.
It’s sort of scary to me to know that my state allows drivers with vision just shy of 20/100 on the roads, though. Even with my impaired night vision I don’t think I’m anywhere near that standard.
Thanks for your concern. I may have been overstating things when I said I have “terrible” night vision; it’s probably more correctly described as “poor.” To put it into perspective, when the roads are dry, I find that the darkness shortens the distance of road ahead of me that I can see. On an unlighted road, this shortening of my visual field leaves me feeling that if I could drive at about 45 mph I’m able to navigate about as well as I do on the same road during daylight hours at 55 - 60 mph. Unfortunately, other drivers aren’t very accepting of other drivers moving more slowly than they’d like to travel.
As I mentioned above, I’m very aware of my impairment and plan my night-time driving accordingly. Most of the roads I travel within a couple of miles from my home are suburban roads that have a speed limit of 35 or 45 mph — no problem. Those that aren’t are 4 lane roads that are either divided highway — which helps by moving away the glare of oncoming headlights — or have street lighting, and/or have so many stoplights that high rates of speed are pretty much precluded. My route to work is a couple of miles of two-lane 35 mph and 45 mph suburban streets followed by several miles 4 to 8 lane, well lit, divided highway, followed by a couple of miles of 4 to 6 lane minimally divided highway with traffic slowed by stoplights every tenth to quarter mile or so. I don’t feel unsafe navigating it during dry conditions, and I’m comfortable travelling at the speed limits.
And, yeah, I envision that it will probably be just a matter of an hour or so delay to work maybe between 6 - 12 times per year at most. I don’t see it as a big deal. I just don’t want to get dinged for poor attendance, and want to be allowed to work my hours.
I appreciate the other thoughtful comments as well.
I’m thinking now that my best bet is probably to formally request an accommodation through HR primarily to protect me if there is a change in management somewhere down the line. (And the thought that it protects my manager as well is something I hadn’t thought of, and is something I definitely want to do as well.) There are a handful of court decisions that support a request for schedule accommodation for people with poor night vision, so that is clearly on my side.
I’m thinking of asking that I be allowed to come in late on days when weather conditions cause glare on the road, and be allowed the option of either making up the time some time during the next week (10 days?) or taking it out of my annual leave, and ensuring that this action have no negative consequence on my attendance record. I’m suggesting being given extended time to make up the hours because if it’s rainy during my morning drive time, chances are the roads will be wet during my afternoon drive time, and pushing myself to work late on the same day would have me running into the same problem. Any thoughts on this?
This is standard for any driver. All drivers should slow down at night, so that they are not over-driving their headlights. I don’t know if they still do it in some places, but I can remember back in the 70s, interstate highways had different speed limits for day and night in many states. So drive at the speed you are comfortable with, and if those behind you wish to go faster, they can pass you.
You can use FMLA leave to take time off and have it come out of your annual leave. You probably need to fill out a form with your employer and you may need to get your doctor to sign or provide documentation.
If working from home is a possibility (i.e., if it can be done with your job and IT resources; whether it’s a norm in your department shouldn’t matter), you can also request that as an accommodation.
I’m going to have to research FMLA. My boss had mentioned that as a possibility, too. I thought it was a law that allowed you to take time off for maternity leave or to care for an ailing family member. I don’t quite get why that becomes relevant when I’m going to potentially be using my own accrued leave time, anyway.
FMLA is for any illness or health condition that will impact your work attendance, and it is mandated that employers (most employers) honor it. What is not mandated is that it be in addition to your workplace’s regular sick/attendance/leave policy. What usually happens is that your leave from your workplace and your FMLA allowance (up to 12 weeks per year for any single cause) will run concurrently.
All FMLA does is insure that you are allowed to take the leave, and that they can’t give your job to someone else because you’ve taken leave.
For something like this situation, it seems like if you can work something official out with HR without involving FMLA it might be better - FMLA is a shitton of documentation and paperwork for something like this that will be better measured in hours per year rather than days or weeks.
That said, if HR balks, or wants to do something unnoficial, I would absolutely request it be listed as FMLA to ensure you won’t be turned down or have attendance notices in your work file.