Reasonable Accommodations

According to the ADA, an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation for the known limitations of a qualified applicant or employee with a disability, unless the employer can show that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the business, or no accommodation exists that would eliminate a direct threat that the limitation poses to the health or safety of the person or others.

What is required under ADA?

• Making existing facilities readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities
• Job restructuring, modifying work schedules, or reassignment to a vacant position
• Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies, and providing qualified readers/ interpreters

Definitions

• A "Qualified Individual" is a person who satisfies the requisite skills, experience, education, and other job-related requirements of the position and who can perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• A person is “substantially” limited in performing a major life activity if they are unable to perform the activity; or they are significantly restricted in the condition, manner or duration that they can perform one or more major life activity as compared to the average person in the population.
• “Disability” is established under the ADA:
  • Case by case
  • There is no “list” of disabilities
  • A determination of a disability cannot be made based upon the diagnosis of the condition or the type of impairment
  • The determination that a disability exists is based upon the affect it has on the life of the individual
  • It is not based other definitions of disability such as the VA or Social Security definitions