Five Questions Regarding Reasonable Accommodation Employers Should Know The Answers To
In March 2007, we wrote a post listing five frequently asked questions about reasonable accommodation as it relates to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Here are five additional questions that every employer should know the answers to. Fortunately, I've included some answers as well.
Q. What must an emploer do after receiving a request for reasonable accommodation? A. When the disability and/or the need for accommodation is not obvious, the employer may ask the individual for reasonable documentation about his/her disability and functional limitations. The employer and the individual with a disability should engage in an informal process to clarify what the individual needs and identify the appropriate reasonable accommodation. The employer may ask the individual questions that will enable it to make an informed decision about the request. This includes asking what type of reasonable accommodation is needed.
Q. How quickly must an employer respond to a request for reasonable accommodation? A. An employer should respond promptly to a request for reasonable accommodation. If the employer and the individual with a disability need to engage in an interactive process, it too should proceed as quickly as possible. Similarly, the employer should act promptly to provide the reasonable accommodation.
Q. Is providing leave necessitated by an employee's disability a form of reasonable accommodation? A. Yes, absent undue hardship, providing unpaid leave is a form of reasonable accommodation. However, an employer does not have to provide more paid leave than it provides to other employees.
Q. Is a modified or part-time schedule considered reasonable accommodation? A. Yes, absent undue hardship. A modified schedule may involve adjusting arrival or departure times, providing periodic breaks, altering when certain job tasks are performed, allowing an employee to use accrued paid leave, or providing additional unpaid leave.
Q. Does a reasonable accommodation include changing a person's supervisor? A. No. The ADA may, however, require that supervisory methods, such as the method of communicating assignments, be altered as a form of reasonable acommodation.
[The format for the above questions and answers is based upon information contained in the EEOC's Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA.]
In most circumstances, one's privileges under reasonable accommodation may depend on the terms negotiated by the employee and his employer.
Posted by: lalawblogger | October 15, 2008 at 03:17 AM
can an employer require me to wear a lapel broach that has our mission statement on it if i am allergic to the material it is made out of? how should i proceed, does this fall under the 1973 americans with disabilitys act? thanks,
Posted by: nate | February 20, 2009 at 08:13 AM
Can an employer force employees to fly in his personal airplane for business when the employee feels unsafe flying with this person?
Posted by: Susan Hawkins | May 27, 2009 at 07:25 PM