Reasonable Accommodations for Employees With Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) continues to guide workplace protections of individuals with disabilities. Navigating the complexities of this civil rights legislation, and its prohibitions against disability discrimination in the workplace, requires ongoing assessment by labor and employment law practitioners.
With terms such as “undue hardship” and “reasonable accommodation” open to interpretation, legal practitioners must continually stay apprised of court decisions and new ADA guidance to guide clients on employment discrimination laws and compliance.
[Download a flowchart of the interactive process that’s required when an employee makes a reasonable accommodation request under the ADA.]
What is a reasonable accommodation in the workplace?
A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to the hiring process or job (including the physical work environment and workplace policies or procedures) to ensure individuals with disabilities receive equal treatment.
A reasonable accommodation is, in effect, a “productivity enhancer” that allows an employee with a disability who is otherwise qualified to perform essential job functions to the same degree as people without disabilities.
The ADA informs reasonable accommodations. To ensure the same consideration, Title I of the ADA specifically requires reasonable accommodations in three areas:
- The application process
- The performance of essential job functions
- The ability of employees with a disability to receive equal benefits of employment
What are examples of workplace accommodations? What are the most common means of accommodation?
Reasonable accommodations span areas such as:
- Work environment modifications
- Assistive technology
- Accessible communications
- Policy enhancements
Within these broad categories, common examples of workplace accommodations include:
- Greater accessibility in parking and within a workstation
- Reassignment to an open role (based on impediments to the ability to perform essential functions in a present role due to disability)
- Work schedule modification to accommodate medical appointments
- Modifying tests, training materials, or workplace policies (for example, easing a no-pets policy to allow for service animals)
- Supplying qualified readers, closed captioning, or interpreters
- Altering and purchasing equipment or software, such as screen readers
Who qualifies for ADA accommodations?
Among employers with 15 or more employees, ADA reasonable accommodation protections apply to individuals in any of three categories:
- Having a physical or mental impairment that “substantially limits” one or more major life activities
- A documented history of an impairment
- Being viewed by others as having the impairment
If the impairment leading to a reasonable accommodation request is not apparent, an employer can ask for medical documentation.
To qualify for ADA accommodations, individuals must meet the definition of “substantially limits.” While open to interpretation, this term means that the disability impedes the ability of a qualified person to perform essential job duties to the same degree as others in the general population due to the disability’s impact on a major life activity, such as walking, talking, hearing, seeing, and performing manual tasks.
What’s the process for reviewing and responding to a workplace accommodation request?
At the outset, an employer must review an ADA accommodation request in connection to a disclosed condition even if an employee makes the request informally.
For example, an employee doesn’t need to mention the ADA, use the phrase “reasonable accommodation,” or put the request in writing. Even a simple verbal statement suffices for an employer to review a request for an adjustment or change of work.
As a preliminary measure, however, the employer can still seek to verify the medical condition meets the ADA general definition of “disability.” For example, employees simply “regarded as” having a disability but who don’t have a disability don’t qualify for reasonable accommodations. The medical condition must instead be an “actual disability.”
[Download a flowchart of the interactive process that’s required when an employee makes a reasonable accommodation request under the ADA.]
Can an employer ask for proof of a disability?
In cases where the disability isn’t apparent, the employer can request medical documentation of the impairment to confirm the diagnosis as well as basic information about the nature, duration, and severity of the disability, including the extent to which it limits the employee’s ability to perform essential work functions.
However, the employer violates the ADA if they demand more documentation than necessary to prove the disability.
Where a disability is obvious, employees don’t need to provide proof of disability as part of the workplace accommodations request.
Based on this information, an employer may discuss whether the accommodation is in fact reasonable and necessary.
What is an undue hardship under the ADA?
While reasonable accommodations often benefit many employees – for example, as with ergonomic workstations – and typically present limited impact to employer budgets and work environments, certain accommodation requests may pose undue hardship to employers.
An unreasonable accommodation presents an undue hardship when it is not only cost-prohibitive but untenably elaborate, with potential disruptions to areas of a business such as size, resources, and operations, with potential impacts to areas such as workplace safety and efficiencies, employee rights and benefits, and legal compliance. In this vein, examples of unreasonable accommodation include:
- Eliminating primary job responsibilities
- Lowering production standards
- Granting greater paid leave to one employee over others
- Keeping a position open indefinitely
- Reducing employee hours
As resources and constraints vary by industry and business, employers must decide on a case-by-case basis if a workplace accommodation request rises to the level of undue hardship. Legal counsel can also play a critical role in this review.
How long does an employer have to respond to a reasonable accommodation request?
While the process of requesting a workplace accommodation is interactive and ongoing, the employer should nonetheless still decide upon the accommodation request within a reasonable time frame, as unnecessary delays violate the ADA.
While the ADA doesn’t specify a time limit, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provides guidance in the form of various examples. For instance, if an employee who uses a wheelchair makes a request for more accessible parking and two months after the initial request nothing has been done, the employer – even if they never explicitly denied the request – has violated the ADA.
Conversely, if a blind employee needs adaptive equipment that’s only available from a select vendor, with an arrival date three months away, and the employer expeditiously ordered and apprised the employee of the timeline, as well as presented interim solutions, then no ADA violation has occurred.
[Download a flowchart of the interactive process that’s required when an employee makes a reasonable accommodation request under the ADA.]
What if an employer refuses to provide an ADA accommodation?
While the reasonable accommodations discussion between an employee and employer is interactive, the employer isn’t obligated to grant an employee’s preferred workplace accommodation if a less costly and more accessible option with the same effect exists.
In cases of outright accommodation denial, Title I of the ADA doesn’t require employers to provide a written explanation. However, an employee can still request the denial reason. This can be an opportunity for the employee to provide further clarification or details in support of their request or present an alternative accommodation request.
Throughout the process, an employee may appeal an employer decision. If the employer doesn’t have a formal appeals process, an employee may reach out to a union representative, state or local government ADA coordinator, or equal employment opportunity counselor. As a final measure, employees can file an ADA complaint with the EEOC.
How often can ADA accommodations be reviewed? Can accommodations expire?
A frequent assumption is that once an ADA accommodation is granted, the decision is permanent. However, because the reasonable accommodations process is interactive, it can evolve even after the approval stage.
Simply put, because each ADA accommodation is individualized, it’s subject to review and change at any point. Among the many reasons for change, a workplace accommodation may be tied to a temporary medical need and therefore expire; or the disability accommodation may present an undue hardship. In either case, the employer and employee should once again engage in the interactive process to review alternatives when the need arises.
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