Reasonable Accommodation

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) protects employees with disabilities from most discrimination on the basis of their disabilities. Under the ADA, employers may not discriminate against certain disabled employees or applicants with respect to any employment practice, including hiring, firing, pay, advancement, and training. The ADA defines discrimination as classifying or limiting disabled employees or applicants so that they will be adversely impacted because of their disability.

What are Reasonable Accommodations?

Although employers are not required under the ADA to employ disabled employees who cannot perform the essential functions of the job at issue, they are required not to discriminate against disabled applicants or employees who could perform the job if reasonable accommodations were made. A reasonable accommodation is a reasonable change in the work environment or in the way a job is performed that enables a disabled person to perform the job. Courts have determined that a change is "reasonable" if it seems reasonable on its face or if it is feasible or plausible.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which is the agency tasked with enforcing the ADA, has stated that there are three categories of reasonable accommodations:

• Modifications to a job application process that allow qualified disabled applicants to be considered for a position
• Modifications to the work environment or to the manner in which the job is customarily performed so that a disabled employee may perform the essential functions of the job
• Modifications that allow a disabled employee to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment

The ADA states that reasonable accommodations may include:

• making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities
• Job restructuring
• Part-time or modified work schedules
• Reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices
• Apropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations
• Training materials or policies
• The provision of qualified readers or interpreters
• Other similar accommodations for individuals with disabilities

Examples of reasonable accommodations would include:

• An employee whose medication makes him drowsy by 3:00 p.m. may have his work schedule altered so that he may leave before that time
• A mentally handicapped employee may need to have specific instructions for a particular job task clearly written down on paper
• A blind attorney is entitled to have adaptive software installed on her work computer so that may perform research and writing

Employers are not required by the ADA to provide disabled employees with personal use items, such as eyeglasses, prosthetic devices, wheelchairs, or hearing aids, that will be used by employees both on and off the job. Employers are also not required to lower their production or quality standards or to eliminate an essential function of a job so that a disabled employee may perform it. An example of where a reasonable accommodation is not required would be for an applicant who is not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds in a warehouse job that regularly requires employees to load boxes weighing 20 pounds or more. The ability to lift 20 pounds or more is an essential job function.

Undue Hardship

If an employer can prove an "undue hardship," no reasonable accommodation must be made. Under the ADA, undue hardship means significant difficulty or expense. Under this definition, what might be an undue hardship for a business with 10 employees would not necessarily be an undue hardship for a company with 10,000 employees. An example would be with an employee who cannot work past 3:00 p.m. because of medication issues need not be accommodated by a small telemarketing employer that makes all of its calls between the hours of 2:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. No support personnel would be available at an earlier time to assist the employee; nor would the employer be calling its customers at a desired time.

When Does the Obligation to Provide a Reasonable Accommodation Arise?

Although there are no magic words or requirements for written requests, an employee must request a reasonable accommodation before he or she may expect an employer to provide one. The request may come from the employee directly or from a medical doctor or other representative.