Job Accommodations

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (n.d.), workplace or job accommodations are adjustments to a job or work environment that make it possible for individuals with disabilities to perform their job functions. The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act (ADAAA) defines a disability as an “impairment that substantially limits major life activity” OR as having “a record of having this impairment” OR as “being regarded as having an impairment” (Job Accommodation Network [JAN], n.d.a). More detailed information about determining if a person has a disability that is eligible for job accommodations will be discussed below; however, as a general rule, every individual who is eligible for accommodations, regardless of if they have similar or the same disabilities, needs different accommodations in order to help them succeed in their job duties. This blog post will discuss how employees and employers can determine if an employee has a disability that warrants job accommodations, will provide a discussion on reasonable accommodations, and will conclude with a helpful resource for all things job accommodations.

Determining Disability Eligibility

It can be difficult for employers and employees to understand when an employee has a disability and is therefore eligible for job accommodations. The list below will present four steps to determine if an individual has a disability that would be eligible for accommodations:

• Does the employee have an impairment? An impairment is defined within the ADAAA as “any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more body systems, or any mental or psychological disorder” (JAN, n.d.).

1. 1. 1. If the employee has disclosed that they have an impairment or identifies that they have an impairment, move to step 2.
      2. If the employee has no such impairment, they would likely not qualify for having a disability.

• Does the impairment affect a major life activity for the employee? A major life activity can include many things, including (but not limited to) self-care skills, performing manual tasks, hearing, eating, sleeping, fine or gross motor skills, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, social interactions, and working (JAN, n.d.a). 

1. 1. 1. If the employee’s impairment affects a major life activity, move to step 3.
      2. If the employee’s impairment does not affect a major life activity, they would likely not qualify for having a disability.

• Is the major life activity substantially limited? The ADAAA, unfortunately, does not explicitly state a definition for what it means for the impairment to be substantially limited; however, some general rules are provided. For example, employers should ignore beneficial effects of mitigating measures (i.e., medication, equipment, hearing aids, mobility devices, etc.) when deciding if the life activity is substantially limited, except for the use of eyeglasses. As another example, substantially limited does include disabilities that are episodic in nature or are in remission states, such as asthma, epilepsy, cancer, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia; and, temporary impairments (longer than 6 months) can be considered as disabilities. Employees with transitory (less than 6 months) impairments that minorly affect the major life activity would not qualify for job accommodations (JAN, n.d.a). 

1. 1. 1. If the employee’s major life activity is substantially limited, move to step 4.
      2. If the employee’s major life activity is not substantially limited or they have a transitory impairment, they would likely not qualify for having a disability.

• Is the impairment on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) list of disabilities that employers should easily find as substantially limiting? The U.S. EEOC (2002) provided a list of impairments that employers should almost always consider as substantially limiting, including: deafness; blindness; intellectual disability; partially missing limbs; mobility impairments that require the use of a wheelchair; autism spectrum disorder; cancer; cerebral palsy; multiple sclerosis; muscular dystrophy; major depressive disorder; bipolar disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder; obsessive compulsive disorder; and schizophrenia.

1. 1. If an employee has one of these impairments, they should almost always be eligible for a workplace accommodation.
   2. If an employee does not have one of these impairments, employers should consider how limited an employee’s performance may be without a job accommodation to determine whether they are substantially limited in a life activity.

Reasonable Accommodations

Now that it has been discussed if an employee is eligible for a job accommodation, it should be noted that the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires that employers provide reasonable job accommodations if an individual has a disability, unless these accommodations cause undue hardships for the employer. A reasonable accommodation includes any change in the traditional work environment or how a job role has been historically conducted that enables the individual with a disability to access equal employment opportunities. There are three categories of reasonable accommodations: (1) modifications or adjustments while applying to a job that can be made in order to enable a qualified applicant with a disability to be considered for positions; (2) modifications or adjustments can be made once the employee has their job to change the work environment or the way the job has been historically performed so that the employee is able to perform the essential job functions; and (3) modifications or adjustments can be made for a covered entity’s employee to access equal benefits and privileges as employees without disabilities (U.S. Department Justice; Civil Rights Division: Disability Rights Section, n.d.).

A reasonable accommodation does not have to be provided if it causes undue hardship for the employer. Undue hardship is not the same for every employer, rather it is based on several employer factors including cost of the accommodation needed, the effect of the expense on the facility, overall financial resources, type of operation, and impact it will have on the operation. Several cases have precedent for being considered undue hardship, including the employers not being able to access outside funding to help supplement cost, there being no tax credits or deductions available to help offset costs, the employee is not willing to offset the difference of cost, and if the accommodation prevents other employees from doing their job duties (JAN, n.d.a).

JAN

Askjan.org is a great resource for all things job accommodations. It provides free services to individuals in the U.S., including 1-on-1 practical and technological help on job accommodation solutions. One of the most helpful tools on the JAN website is their A to Z list of accommodation ideas and resources. To access this resource, click the “A to Z LISTS” on the header of the website. Once you click to this tab, you should see a list of disabilities that have reasonable accommodations. If you click on a disability, you will be taken to a page detailing the disability, how it applies to the Americans with Disabilities Act, and accommodation ideas (JAN, n.d.b). In general, all the accommodation ideas have precedent as being reasonable for employees with the selected disability.

Conclusion

By law, it is a requirement for employers to provide reasonable job accommodations for individuals with disabilities; however, it can be tricky to understand when an employee is eligible for accommodations and what accommodations they are eligible for. To address the former, the following questions may be asked: (1) does the employee have an impairment; (2) does the impairment affect a major life activity for the employee; (3) is the major life activity substantially limited; and (4) is the impairment on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) list of disabilities that employers should easily find as substantially limiting? Once the employee or employer determines a disability is prevalent, relevant reasonable accommodations for the specific disability can be found on the askjan.org website.

References

Job Accommodation Network. (n.d.a). Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act . 

Americans with disabilities act amendments act. 

https://askjan.org/topics/Americans-with-Disabilities-Act-Amendments-Act.cfm#impair 

Job Accommodation Network (n.d.b) Job accommodation network. https://askjan.org/ 

U.S. Department of Justice; Civil Rights Division; Disability Rights Section. (n.d.). Introduction 

to the Americans with Disabilities Act. ADA.gov. 

https://www.ada.gov/topics/intro-to-ada/

U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). Job accommodations. DOL.

https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/disability/jobaccommodations

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2002, October 17). Enforcement guidance 

on reasonable accommodation and undue hardship under the ADA. US EEOC. 

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/enforcement-guidance-reasonable-accommodation-

and-undue-hardship-under-ada