Examples of "Accommodations"

Reasonable accommodations under the law can include changes to the physical work environment, or to the job itself. Changes to the work environment usually require altering facilities so that they are accessible and usable for persons with disabilities -- including installing wheel chair access doors, ramps or elevators, handrails, different chairs, desks or computers, or different lighting; and realizing different configurations for furniture or machinery. Job changes include such things as restructuring the job, shortening or modifying the work schedule, transferring the employee to another vacant job, acquiring or modifying necessary equipment, and adjusting examinations, training materials or policies.

"Undue Hardship" Under the ADA

"Undue hardship" under the ADA means "significant difficulty or expense" for the employer. Factors the employer may consider in weighing undue hardship include:

• Nature and cost of the accommodation;
• Financial resources of the business or facility that would require the accommodation;
• The number of workers at the business or facility;
• Impact of the accommodation on the facility's expenses, resources or operations;
• Employer's overall size, nature and resources; and
• Type of operations impacted by the accommodation.

The standards for reasonable accommodation and undue hardship have proven difficult for courts to identify and apply uniformly. Employers are only required to accommodate disabilities of which they are aware, meaning that an employee cannot bring an ADA claim for a condition that was unknown to the employer. Additionally, sometimes the parties disagree on whether the employee's condition is a disability under the law. Deafness and quadriplegia are clearly disabilities, but many conditions are harder to judge. Is a sore back a disability? What about poor eyesight?

What Accommodation is Required?

Assuming the employer does not contest the employee's disability, the next question is the required accommodation. The ADA does not specify who is supposed to take the initiative in accommodating the employee's disability, so employers may not know whether it's their duty (or the employee's duty) to propose changes that would allow the employee to perform the job. Some courts require an interactive process between the employer and the disabled individual, sometimes with the employer taking a more affirmative role.