Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA U S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The ADA’s “undue hardship” standard is different from that applied by courts under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for religious accommodation.(18) However, an employer may have to provide reasonable accommodation to enable an employee with a disability to meet the production standard. There are several modifications or adjustments that are not considered forms of reasonable accommodation.(12) An employer does not have to eliminate an essential function, i.e., a fundamental duty of the position. Similarly, a reasonable accommodation enables an applicant with a disability to have an equal opportunity to participate in the application process and to be considered for a job.

Employers are not required to reallocate essential functions to another employee as a reasonable accommodation. Written job descriptions are not required under the ADA, but they can be a helpful way to establish the essential functions of a job. If an employee’s disability is not obvious, an employer can ask for medical documentation from a healthcare provider to confirm the need for an accommodation. JAN is also useful for exploring self-employment and entrepreneurship options for people with disabilities. More specific questions may be answered by contacting a technical assistance specialist from your regional ADA Center.

\ Furthermore, the ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations, including reassignment, regardless of whether such accommodations are routinely granted to non-disabled employees. Some courts have limited the obligation to provide a reassignment to positions within the same department or facility in which the employee currently works, except when the employer’s standard practice is to provide inter-department or inter-facility transfers for all employees. As the regulations make clear, essential functions are duties to be performed.

OTHER REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION ISSUES (

Once the employer identifies an effective accommodation, make a plan to put it into effect on the job, including any necessary training for the employee. If the need for an accommodation is not obvious, the employee may be required to provide documentation of a disability from the appropriate health or rehabilitation professional. After an employee discloses a disability to their manager or to human resources, it is important to initiate whatever reasonable accommodation process that the employer has in place.

If an individual provides sufficient documentation to show the existence of an ADA disability and the need for reasonable accommodation, continued efforts by the employer to require that the individual see the employer’s health professional could be considered retaliation. See 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o)(1)(ii), (2)(ii) (1997) (modifications or adjustments to the manner or circumstances under which the position held or desired is customarily performed that enable a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions). Some courts have suggested that reassignment means simply an opportunity to compete for a vacant position.

Even without the ADA, an employee with a disability may have the right to compete for a vacant position. If it will take several weeks to determine whether an appropriate vacant position exists, the employer and employee should discuss the employee’s status during that period. (BNA) 1189, 1199 (10th Cir. 1997) (federal employers are far better placed than employees to investigate in good faith the availability of vacant positions).

See Questions 5 – 7, infra, for a further discussion on when an employer may request reasonable documentation about a person’s “disability” and the need for reasonable accommodation. This “cost/benefit” analysis has no foundation in the statute, regulations, or legislative history of the ADA. Some courts have said that in determining whether an accommodation is “reasonable,” one must look at the costs of the accommodation in relation to its benefits. All examples used in this document assume that the applicant or employee has an ADA “disability.” The notices that employers and labor unions must post informing applicants, employees, and members of labor organizations of their ADA rights must include a description of the reasonable accommodation requirement. In addition to employers, the ADA requires employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor-management committees to provide reasonable accommodations.

• This document has information that may be useful for employees, employers, human resources staff, and others.
• Some courts have limited the obligation to provide a reassignment to positions within the same department or facility in which the employee currently works, except when the employer’s standard practice is to provide inter-department or inter-facility transfers for all employees.
• Despite the statutory language and legislative history, some courts have applied a cost-benefit analysis.
• Regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) explain the rights of people with disabilities and the obligations of those covered by the laws.
• The EEOC’s Publication Center has many free documents on the Title I employment provisions of the ADA, including both the statute, 42 U.S.C. .

What types of employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations?

Learn more about the reasonable accommodation process by reading about how one of the regional ADA Centers helped an administrative employee successfully navigate their reasonable accommodation request for telework. These factors include the nature and cost of the accommodation in relation to the size, resources, https://hokuen.info/category/driver-development-analysis nature, and structure of the employer’s operation. Undue hardship is defined as an “action requiring significant difficulty or expense” when considered in light of a number of factors. Private employers who have 15 or more employees, or state and local government employers of any size, are required to provide reasonable accommodations.

Nevertheless, some courts have required that individuals initially provide detailed information in order to trigger the employer’s duty to investigate whether https://business-soulwork.com/where-to-invest-in-leadership-development/ reasonable accommodation is required. “With or without reasonable accommodation” includes, if necessary, reassignment to a vacant position. The Manual includes a 200-page Resource Directory, including federal and state agencies, and disability organizations that can provide assistance in identifying and locating reasonable accommodations.