What Is A Reasonable Accommodation?
A reasonable accommodation is any workplace adjustment or modification that allows an employee with a disability equal opportunity in recruitment, hiring, compensation, benefits, training, job changes, and separation. Reasonable accommodations are a significant aspect of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a federal law prohibiting discrimination against employees with disabilities.
Not every accommodation is a “reasonable” accommodation. Sometimes, an accommodation request may pose an undue hardship for your business, like a major cost or extensive change that disrupts business operations. In those cases, you must work with the employee to determine an alternative accommodation or consult outside resources like Job Accommodation Network (JAN) or a labor law attorney.
Examples of Reasonable Accommodations
A reasonable accommodation is different for every disabled worker and employer. For example, installing an elevator in a two-story building to accommodate an employee in a wheelchair may be acceptable for an employee in a wheelchair employed by a multinational enterprise corporation — the company can afford to make such changes. But for a small business? Installing the elevator could break the bank or severely hinder its day-to-day operations.
Luckily, most reasonable accommodations cost nothing, according to JAN’s 2024 findings. Click the tabs below to explore common reasonable accommodations at every point in the employee life cycle.
- Diverse application formats: Besides electronic applications suitable for screen readers, offer physical applications in large print, simple English, or Braille for folks with vision, reading, or cognitive disabilities.
- Flexible interviews: Provide options like breaks to support folks with certain physical, stamina, or mental disabilities. Video interviews with captioning are great for those with a hearing disability.
- Modified pre-employment tests: Consider extending the testing time or changing the test format (e.g., verbal instead of a written test).
Did you know?
Hiring people with disabilities has several advantages, including increased employee engagement, an expanded applicant pool, improved company reputation, and even tax incentives. Being conscious of reasonable accommodations during the recruitment and hiring process, like providing modified application formats, is a great diversity hiring tactic.
- Flexible schedules: Remote or hybrid working arrangements, adjusted start and stop times, or occasional breaks are some options for supporting people with chronic pain, low stamina, or cognitive disabilities.
- Assistive technology and ergonomic equipment: Examples include screen readers, voice-recognition technology, switch devices, sit-stand desks, adjustable chairs, and modified keyboards and mice.
- Sensory-friendly facilities: Provide places for neurodivergent employees to be productive, such as noise-canceling headphones or quiet offices with low lighting or white noise.
- Reserved parking: Reserved parking spaces allow disabled workers with mobility issues or chronic pain to access their workplaces with minimal hindrances.
- Personal aides or service animals: Aides, like ASL interpreters, note-takers, or service animals, may be essential for deaf, blind, or other physically disabled workers.
- Improve work area accessibility: This includes adjusting the space between desks to accommodate employees with wheelchairs, walkers, or other mobility devices.
- Alternative exit interviews: Allow employees to perform exit interviews over video, by phone, or in writing.
- Accessible retrieval of personal belongings: Provide other ways for employees to receive personal belongings from the workplace, such as mailing items to their homes or leveraging a courier service.
Obligations of Employers
Below are your major responsibilities to provide a compliant ADA reasonable accommodation and support a fair and equitable workplace.
Identify Essential Job Functions
Essential job functions are responsibilities that are key to a specific role; employees must be able to perform these duties to hold this position. For example, an essential job duty for a teacher is instructing students, while an essential job duty for a sales representative is managing client relationships.
Under the ADA, disabled workers must be able to perform essential job duties, with or without a reasonable accommodation. Identifying what duties are essential versus non-essential in a role is vital for understanding a disabled worker’s employment rights.
For instance, writing out task lists on a chalkboard for students is a non-essential job duty for a teacher. Because of this, you shouldn’t use a candidate in a wheelchair’s inability to use the chalkboard to disqualify them from your hiring process or deny employment. Doing so is discriminatory since chalkboard task lists are not essential to a teacher’s job since you can reassign this task to another employee (or maybe an eager student).
Allow Employees to Initiate Accommodation Requests
Employees should be the ones to initiate accommodation requests, not the other way around. Requests can be informal or start with a formal ask between the candidate or employee and their recruiter or manager. That said, I always suggest getting something in writing for recordkeeping purposes. A form will do, but a timestamped email works just as well.
Never assume an employee has a disability. Assuming an employee has a disability and acting in a way that highlights that belief can be discriminatory. It also affords the employee protected status under the ADA, which they otherwise would not have qualified.
Remember to store any accommodation requests and supporting documentation in confidential files separate from the employee’s personnel file since they contain sensitive, HIPAA-protected information. Most HRIS have features to store and restrict access to these documents. If you’re in the market for a new system, check out the 8 Best HRIS for Small Business Owners.
Engage in Interactive Dialogues
An interactive dialogue is when you participate in a good-faith conversation with the disabled worker to determine a reasonable accommodation. The discussion is confidential and allows for an open back-and-forth on the employee’s limitations while brainstorming possible accommodation solutions.
Most reasonable accommodations are apparent. For example, allowing a cashier to sit on a chair when checking out customers is a reasonable accommodation for an employee with an ankle injury.
However, occasionally, a reasonable accommodation is less obvious, making the interactive dialogue a critical component of the process. You have the final say in what accommodation you provide, but remember to consider the employee’s perspective and implement a solution that allows them to perform their primary duties.
And don’t forget to follow up with the employee after implementation: is the accommodation working? Do you need to adjust their accommodation so they can succeed in their role?
Reasonable Accommodation FAQs
The reasonable accommodation process is a way of identifying job and environmental modifications that ensure equal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
At a company level, the reasonable accommodation process looks at modifying systems to provide fair and equal access to disabled workers. Think of remodeling workplaces with an inclusive design or providing company materials in multiple formats to accommodate the needs of all employees.
At the individual level, the reasonable accommodation process refers to the one-on-one interactive discussion between you and a disabled employee following an accommodation request. This includes a conversation on the employee’s essential duties, brainstorming possible accommodations and implementation, and checking in on the success of the accommodation.
One of the best reasonable accommodation resources is the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), which offers free services to help you craft personalized accommodations. You can also check out the EEOC for guidance on enforcement and anti-discrimination policies or the ADA National Network for all things ADA. I’d also research regional, state, and local agencies specializing in disability accommodation near you.
You must make a “reasonable effort” to identify an appropriate employee accommodation upon their request. You cannot deny someone from making an accommodation request, but you can refuse a reasonable accommodation if it creates an undue hardship for your business.
If you and the employee cannot determine an adequate alternative, the EEOC states that the individual may be considered “not qualified” for the job. But in scenarios like this, I’d always check with a labor law attorney before moving forward with termination.
