ADA and Employment

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 guarantees equal employment opportunity for individuals with disabilities.

Who's covered?

Under federal law:

• Employers with 15 or more employees
• State and local government employers
• Employment agencies
• Unions

may not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in hiring or promotions.

Many states also have local laws protecting the employees of companies with less than 15 employees.

A qualified person is someone who "satisfies the requisite skill, experience, education and other job-related requirements of the job and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job."

The term "essential functions" means "job tasks that are fundamental and not marginal."

What Disabilities Aren't Covered?

Employers may reject applicants or fire employees who:

• Pose a threat to the health or safety of others in the workplace
• Use illegal drugs
• Are homosexual, bisexual, transvestite, transsexual, pedophiles, exhibitionists, voyeurs, or have gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments
• Are compulsive gamblers
• Are kleptomaniacs
• Are pyromaniacs
• Have psychoactive substance use disorders resulting from current illegal drug use
• Are alcoholics whose current use of alcohol interferes with performance of the job or poses a direct threat to property or the safety of others.

What's required?

You are considered disabled under the ADA if you:

• Have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of your major life activities
• Have a record of such impairment or
• Are regarded as having such impairment.

Commonly recognized impairments that may interfere with the performance of life activities include:

• Blindness
• Deafness
• Muscular dystrophy
• Cerebral palsy
• Cardiac problems
• Any mental or psychological disorder generally recognized by medical authorities, such as schizophrenia or manic depression, that interferes with a person's performance of major life activities.

Employers can't discriminate against anyone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of your "major life activities," such as:

• Walking
• Sitting
• Standing
• Seeing
• Hearing
• Breathing
• Speaking
• Performing manual tasks

Employers also can't discriminate against applicants or employees because of their relationship or association with a disabled person.

While employers can ask about someone's ability to perform a job, they cannot ask if someone has a disability or make an applicant take tests that tend to screen out people with disabilities.

"Reasonable accommodations" include restructuring the job and modifying equipment, which could mean:

• Building a ramp
• Adding a wheelchair-accessible bathroom
• Changing a person's work schedule
• Buying special equipment or devices to assist in the job

Employers must accommodate the disabilities of qualified applicants or employees, unless an undue hardship - either from a financial or administrative standpoint - would result.

Factors considered in determining undue hardship include:

• The overall financial resources of the organization
• The nature and cost of the accommodation
• The impact of providing the accommodation on the particular site or operation of the business

Undue hardship is determined on a case-by-case basis, but it's usually not that difficult or expensive to accommodate an employee with a disability.

You can find out more about the Americans with Disabilities Act by contacting the ADA Technical Assistance Hotline, operated by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund at 1-800-466-4232 (voice/TDD).

Related Articles:

Finding A Lawyer for Your ADA Case
Public and Government ADA Accommodations

Related Web Links:

Job Accommodation Network
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Self Help for Hard of Hearing

Employment Law For Employers Message Board for more help