Definition - What does critical demands mean?
Critical demands is the ability to execute the essential functions necessary to meet the physical requirements of a job position. Many occupations consist of hard labor where emphasis on health and safety is a primary concern for all personnel. In clinical settings, a job analysis is used as a criterion to evaluate various factors that help determine if an applicant and/or employee is qualified to satisfy critical demand standards.
SureHire explains critical demands
Eligibility for a job role can be contingent on background experience, education level, skill sets and general health. Critical demands underscores several physical qualities that often align with a job description illustrating duties and tasks established by a company. For instance, environmental conditions can often entail coordination and strength to handle, lift, and transfer heavy equipment while demonstrating mobile agility to keep pace with output.
Disabilities and injuries can be a deterrent for companies to hire applicants and/or reinstate employees to a former position where critical demands are mandatory. However, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sets a precedent in opposing discrimination against disabled and/or injured people to promote fairness on the basis of credentials. In some instances, a clinician visits an employer to conduct a job analysis on site, assessing critical demand elements as a stipulation in the job title description.
Critical demands might call for reasonable accommodations and/or modifications within company budget to suit independent needs for disabled and/or injured people. Although it is a financial expense for employers, the upturn is that it avoids injuries offsetting potential workers compensation liabilities in the future.
