When Light Duty Ends: Can Your Employer Just Let You Go?

The Problem: “Your Light Duty Is Over, So We Have to Let You Go”

Many workers in California hear some version of this line:

“Your light duty period is over, and we can’t keep accommodating you. If you can’t come back full duty by Monday, we’ll have to terminate you.”

On the surface, it might sound reasonable. Light duty was supposed to be temporary, right?

But under California law, that statement often skips an important step—and can lead to disability discrimination or wrongful termination claims.

What “Light Duty” Really Is Under the Law

Light duty generally means a temporary modification of your usual job duties to fit medical restrictions. That might include:

• Reduced lifting requirements,
• Shorter shifts,
• Less physically demanding tasks, or
• A desk or administrative assignment.

In some cases, light duty is offered as part of a workers’ compensation process or while you recover from surgery or a serious health condition.

But the key point under California law is this:

Light duty is not the only form of accommodation your employer has to consider.

California’s Accommodation Laws Don’t End When Light Duty Ends

Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), employers have ongoing duties to:

• Engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process with you, and
• Provide reasonable accommodations for a known disability, unless doing so would create an undue hardship.

This obligation doesn’t disappear just because:

• Your light duty assignment has expired,
• Your FMLA or CFRA leave has ended, or
• A workers’ compensation claim has run its course.

The question instead becomes: What accommodations are now reasonable, given your medical restrictions and the employer’s resources?

Reasonable Accommodation After Light Duty

Once light duty ends, employers must still consider options such as:

• A short extension of leave to complete recovery,
• Modified duties or hours that continue to honor your restrictions,
• Reassignment to a vacant position you’re qualified for, or
• Work-from-home or hybrid arrangements, where feasible.

To learn more about how California treats reasonable accommodations in the workplace, see Eldessouky Law’s page on reasonable accommodation and related resources on disability discrimination.

How Medical Leave and Light Duty Interact

Workers often move through several stages:

• Initial injury or diagnosis,
• Time off on medical leave,
• Return to work with restrictions (light duty), and
• Gradual increase—or sometimes permanent limitation—of abilities.

Federal and state laws that may apply along this path include:

• The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA),
• The California Family Rights Act (CFRA), and
• California’s FEHA disability accommodations requirements.

Each of these laws serves a different role. FMLA and CFRA focus on leave and job protection; FEHA focuses on what happens next if you come back with limitations.

Common Employer Missteps After Light Duty

We frequently see employers make mistakes such as:

• Setting arbitrary deadlines: “You have 30 days of light duty and then must return full duty or be terminated,” without medical or legal justification.
• Refusing to extend leave: Denying a short extension supported by a doctor’s note, even when the company has the resources to accommodate it.
• Ignoring alternative accommodations: Refusing to consider modified duties, different roles, or schedule changes.
• Ending the interactive process prematurely: Stopping communication once the initial light duty period ends.

Understanding “Undue Hardship”

Employers sometimes say, “We can’t keep accommodating you—it’s too hard on the business.”

But under FEHA, undue hardship is a specific legal standard that requires proof of significant difficulty or expense, considering factors like:

• The size and financial resources of the employer,
• The nature of the business,
• The cost of the accommodation, and
• The impact on operations.

For large employers, hospitals, and national companies, it is often very difficult to prove that a short extension of light duty or leave creates undue hardship.

What to Do If Your Employer Ends Light Duty and Threatens Termination

If you’re told your light duty is ending and you must return full duty or lose your job, consider taking the following steps:

• Get updated medical documentation. Ask your doctor to clearly describe your restrictions and expected recovery timeline.
• Request accommodations in writing. Ask for a short extension of leave, modified duties, or reassignment consistent with your limitations.
• Keep a record of all communications. Save emails, letters, and notes from meetings with HR or management.
• Note who else is treated differently. If other employees receive more flexibility, that may be important context.
• Consult a disability and medical leave attorney as early as possible.

Talk to a California Disability and Medical Leave Lawyer

Light duty is only one piece of California’s disability and medical leave protections. If your employer is using the end of a temporary assignment as an excuse to push you out, they may be violating FEHA, CFRA, FMLA, or other laws.

To better understand how accommodations should work in your situation, you can review Eldessouky Law’s resources on disability discrimination, reasonable accommodations, and related workplace protections.

If your light duty is ending and your employer is pressuring you to return full duty or accept termination, get legal advice before agreeing to anything.

Contact Eldessouky Law for a free consultation. Call 213-788-7887 or reach us through our contact page. We help employees across California who are pushed out after injuries, medical leave, or periods of modified duty.