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State of Alaska > DOLWD > Vocational Rehabilitaion > ADA Coordinator's Office
Reasonable Accommodation in the Workplace
Q.
What employers are covered by title I of the ADA, and when is the
coverage effective?
A. The title I employment provisions apply to private employers,
State and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions.
Employers with 25 or more employees will be covered two years later,
beginning July 26, 1994.
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Q.
What practices and activities are covered by the employment nondiscrimination
requirements?
A. The ADA prohibits discrimination in all employment practices,
including job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation,
training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.
It applies to recruitment, advertising, tenure, layoff, leave, fringe
benefits, and all other employment-related activities.
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Q.
Who is protected from employment discrimination?
A. Employment discrimination is prohibited against "qualified
individuals with disabilities." This includes applicants for employment
and employees. An individual is considered to have a "disability"
if s/he has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits
one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment.
People discriminated against because they have a known association or
relationship with an individual with a disability also are protected.
The first part of the definition makes it clear that the ADA applies
to persons who have impairments and the these must substantially limit
major life activities such as seeing, hearing, speaking, walking, breathing,
performing manual tasks, learning, caring for oneself, and working.
An individual with epilepsy, paralysis, HIV infection, AIDS, a substantial
hearing or visual impairment, mental retardation, or a specific learning
disability is covered, but an individual with a minor, non-chronic condition
of short duration, such as a sprain, broken limb, or the flu, generally
would not be covered. The second part of the definition protection individuals
with a record of a disability would cover, for example, a person who
has recovered from cancer or mental illness. The third part of the definition
protects individuals who are regarded as having a substantially limiting
impairment, even though they may not have such an impairment. For example,
this provision would protect a qualified individual with a severe facial
disfigurement from being denied employment because an employer feared
the "negative reactions" of customers or co-workers.
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Q.
Who is a "qualified individual with a disability"?
A. A qualified individual with a disability is a person who meets
legitimate skill, experience, education, or other requirements of an
employment position that s/he holds or seeks, and who can perform the
"essential functions" of the position with or without reasonable
accommodation. Requiring the ability to perform "essential"
functions assures that an individual with a disability will not be considered
unqualified simply because of inability to perform essential job functions
except for limitations caused by a disability, the employer must consider
whether the individual could perform these functions with a reasonable
accommodation. If a written job description has been prepared in advance
of advertising or interviewing applicants for a job, this will be considered
as evidence, although not conclusive evidence, of the essential functions
of the job.
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Q.
Does an employer have to give preference to a qualified applicant
with a disability over the other applicants?
A. No. An employer is free to select the most qualified applicant
available and to make decisions based on reasons unrelated to a disability.
For example, suppose two persons apply for a job as a typist and an
essential function of the job is to type 75 words per minute accurately.
One applicant, an individual with a disability, who is provided with
a reasonable accommodation for a typing test, types 50 words per minute;
the other applicant who has no disability accurately types 75 words
per minute. The employer can hire the applicant with the higher typing
speed, if typing speed is needed for successful performance of the job.
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Q.
Does the ADA require employers to develop written job descriptions?
A. No. The ADA does not require employers to develop or maintain
job descriptions. However, a written job description that is prepared
before advertising or interviewing applicants for a job will be considered
as evidence along with other relevant factors. If an employer uses job
descriptions, they should be reviewed to make sure they accurately reflect
the actual functions of a job. A job description will be most helpful
if it focuses on the results or outcome of a job function, not solely
on the way it customarily is performed. A reasonable accommodation may
enable a person with a disability to accomplish a job function in a
manner that is different from the way an employee who is not disabled
may accomplish the same function.
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Q.
What is "reasonable accommodation"?
A. Reasonable accommodation is any modification or adjustment
to a job or the work environment that will enable a qualified applicant
or employee with a disability to participate in the application process
or to perform essential job functions. Reasonable accommodation also
includes adjustments to assure that a qualified individual with a disability
has rights and privileges in employment equal to those of employees
without disabilities.
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Q.
What are some of the accommodations applicants and employees may
need?
A. Examples of reasonable accommodation include making existing
facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by an
individual with a disability; modifying work schedules; acquiring or
modifying equipment; providing qualified readers or interpreters; or
appropriately modifying examinations, training, or other programs. Reasonable
accommodation also may include reassigning a current employee to a vacant
position for which the individual is qualified, if the person is unable
to do the original job because of a disability even with an accommodation.
However, there is no obligation to find a position for an applicant
who is not qualified for the position sought. Employers are not required
to lower quality or quantity standards as an accommodation; nor are
they obligated to provide personal use items such as glasses or hearing
aids.
The decision as
to the appropriate accommodation must be based on the particular facts
of each case. In selecting the particular type of reasonable accommodation
to provide, the principal test is that of effectiveness, i.e., whether
the accommodation will provide an opportunity for a person with a disability
to achieve the same level of performance and to enjoy benefits equal
to those of an average, similarly situated person without a disability.
However, the accommodation does not have to ensure equal results or
provide exactly the same benefits.
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Q.
When is an employer required to make a reasonable accommodation?
A. An employer is only required to accommodate a "known"
disability of a qualified applicant or employee. The requirement generally
will be triggered by a request from an individual with a disability,
who frequently will be able to suggest an appropriate accommodation.
Accommodations must be made on an individual basis, because the nature
and extent of a disabling condition and the requirements of a job will
vary in each case. If the individual does not request an accommodation,
the employer is not obligated to provide one except where an individual's
known disability impairs his/her ability to know of, or effectively
communicate a need for, an accommodation that is obvious to the employer.
If a person with a disability requests, but cannot suggest, an appropriate
accommodation, the employer and the individual should work together
to identify one. There are also many public and private resources that
can provide assistance without cost.
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Q.
What are the limitations on the obligation to make a reasonable
accommodation?
A. The individual with a disability requiring the accommodation
must be otherwise qualified, and the disability must be known to the
employer. In addition, an employer is not required to make an accommodation
if it would impose an "undue hardship" is defined as an "action
requiring significant difficulty or expense" when considered in
light of a number of factors. These factors include the nature and cost
of the accommodation in relation to the size, resources, nature and
structure of the employer's operation. Undue hardship is determined
on a case-by-case basis. Where the facility making the accommodation
is part of a larger entity, the structure and overall resources of the
larger organization would be considered, as well as the financial and
administrative relationship of the facility to the larger organization.
In general, a larger employer with greater resources would be expected
to make accommodations requiring greater effort or expense than would
be required of a smaller employer with fewer resources.
If a particular accommodation would be an undue hardship, the employer
must try to identify another accommodation that will not pose such a
hardship. Also, if the cost of an accommodation would impose an undue
hardship on the employer, the individual with a disability should be
given the option of paying that portion of the cost which would constitute
an undue hardship or providing the accommodation.
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Q.
Can an employer be required to reallocate an essential function
of a job to another employee as a reasonable accommodation?
A. No. An employer is not required to reallocate essential functions
of a job as a reasonable accommodation.
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Q.
Can an employer be required to modify, adjust, or make other reasonable
accommodations in the way a test is given to qualified applicant or
employee with a disability?
A. Yes. Accommodations may be needed to assure that test or examinations
measure the actual ability of an individual to perform job functions
rather than reflect limitations caused by the disability. Tests should
be given to people who have sensory, speaking, or manual impairments
in a format that does not require the use of the impaired skill, unless
it is a job-related skill that the test is designed to measure.
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Q.
Can an employer consider health and safety when deciding whether
to hire an applicant or retain an employee with a disability?
A. Yes. The ADA permits employers to establish qualification
standards that will exclude individuals who pose a direct threat--i.e.,
a significant risk of substantial harm-- to the health or safety of
the individual or of others, if that risk cannot be eliminated or reduced
below the level of a "direct threat" by reasonable accommodation.
However, an employer may not simply assume that a threat exists: the
employer must establish through objective, medically supportable methods
that there is significant risk that substantial harm could occur in
the workplace. By requiring employers to make individualized judgements
based on reliable medical or other objective evidence rather than on
generalizations, ignorance, fear, patronizing attitudes, or stereotypes,
the ADA recognizes the need to balance the interests of people with
disabilities against the legitimate interests of employers in maintaining
a safe workplace.
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Q.
What financial assistance is available to employers to help them
make reasonable accommodations and comply with the ADA?
A. A special tax credit is available to help smaller employers
make accommodations required by the ADA. An eligible small business
may take a tax credit of up to $5,000 per year for accommodations made
to comply with the ADA. The credit is available for one-half the cost
of "eligible access expenditures" that are more than $250
but less than $10,250. A full tax deduction, up to $15,000 per year,
also is available to any business for expenses of removing qualified
architectural or transportation barriers. Expenses covered include costs
of removing barriers created by steps, narrow doors, inaccessible parking
spaces, restroom facilities, and transportation vehicles. Information
about the tax credit and the tax deduction can be obtained from a local
IRS office, or by contacting the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue
Service. Tax credits are available under the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit
Program (TJTCP) for employers who hire individuals with disabilities
referred by State or local vocational rehabilitation agencies, State
Commissions on the Blind, or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,
and certified by a State Employment Service. Under the TJTCP, a tax
credit may be taken for up to 40 percent of the first $6,000 of first
year wages of a new employee with a disability. This program must be
reauthorized each year by Congress, and currently is extended through
June 30, 1993. Further information about the TJTCP can be obtained from
the State Employment Services or from State Governors' Committees on
the Employment of People with Disabilities.
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Q.
Does the ADA require that an employer post a notice explaining its
requirements?
A. The ADA requires that employers post a notice describing the
provisions of the ADA. It must be made accessible, as needed, to individuals
with disabilities. A poster is available from EEOC summarizing the requirements
of the ADA and other Federal legal requirements for nondiscrimination
for which EEOC has enforcement responsibility. EEOC also provides guidance
on making this information available in accessible formats for people
with disabilities.
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