Heavy lifting

[rainbow_goddess]

Is it reasonable to require an office admin person to be able to do heavy lifting? There's a job that I am otherwise qualified for, but one of the requirements is the ability to lift 40 pounds, which I cannot do because I'm disabled. The job is for a publisher, and I wonder if they expect their office person to lift boxes of books.

Comments

[silencebreaking]

I don't know about boxes of books, but I have had to move cases of paper from the store room to the copy room when we were low. I've also had to carry boxes of office supplies from the reception area to the store room. Depending on what we had ordered, those could get kinda heavy at times.

[rainbow_goddess]

I guess a box of copy/printer paper would be fairly heavy, but other places I've worked provided carts for carrying those kinds of things.

I am just wondering if I should even bother to apply if I can't do the lifting. The reason I can't do lifting now is that in a previous job, I tried to lift something that was too heavy for me and ended up with a permanent back injury.

[silencebreaking]

I would go ahead and apply. If you are otherwise qualified, they may be willing to find a way to work around your injury. I know that for most positions, I have had to fill out an application where it asks if there is any reason why I may not be able to perform the duties as listed, and you could specify there.

smaller loads

[typeform]

I use a cart ... try to work ergonomically ... divide the load into manageable sizes if possible

Apply

[traceroo]

I say go ahead and apply, ya never know what's possible. Sometimes employers put in their dream list of all possible requirements in an ad. Then you show up and it turns out that only half of them are likely.

Good luck with the job search!
Trace

[greenkombucha]

Apply for the position. If you can perform the essential job functions with a reasonable accommodation, they are required to give you the same consideration as other potential candidates under the ADA. :-)

[greenkombucha]

and I would assume that's a relatively low priority on their qualifications list anyway.

[rainbow_goddess]

Assuming that the first "A" in ADA stands for "American," check my LJ profile and see where I live.

[greenkombucha]

For your reference:

http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/accommodation.html