By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Suppose you’ve been injured or are experiencing exacerbations from a chronic health condition that impacts your ability to work. Before you leave that job in anger and frustration, stop and think. Is there some modification or adjustment to the job, the work environment, or the way things are usually done that would enable you to continue to do your job?
That’s what a reasonable accommodation is, and anyone with a disability is entitled to one, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), in three aspects of employment:
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• to ensure equal opportunity in the application process
• to enable a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of a job
• to enable an employee with a disability to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment
An employer must provide a reasonable accommodation to a person with a known physical or mental disability, unless he can show that the cost of the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the business. But it is up to you to request the accommodation, especially if you have a hidden disability. People with MS, for instance, are frequently reluctant to reveal the cause of their fatigue or tardiness. But unless you disclose your disability, you cannot ask for an accommodation.
Many employers are not aware of the obligation to provide reasonable accommodation, nor are they aware of what kinds of accommodations are possible. Contrary to popular belief, and the fear of many employers, the cost of most accommodations is under $500. Some cost nothing at all, such as restructuring a job to change the hours of employment or to divide responsibilities differently among several employees.
Some examples of reasonable accommodation, as provided by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), www.jan.wvu.edu/links/ADAtam1.html#III. include:
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• altering when or how an essential job function is performed
• part-time or modified work schedules
• obtaining or modifying equipment or devices
• modifying examinations, training materials or policies
• providing qualified readers and interpreters
• reassignment to a vacant position
• permitting use of accrued paid leave or unpaid leave for necessary treatment
• providing reserved parking for a person with a mobility impairment
• allowing an employee to provide equipment or devices that an employer is not required to provide
Consider Mary, an office clerk, with limited use of her hands, who can no longer reach across the desk to access her files. The simple accommodation: a lazy Susan file holder for $85 that enables her to easily reach the files. Or consider Bob, who could not fit under his desk when he started using a wheelchair after an accident. Instead of buying a new work station and reconfiguring Bob’s cubicle, the employer simply raised the desk with scrap wood blocks that Bob brought in from home. Net cost: $0.
You don’t have to request a specific accommodation, but you do have to let your employer know that some adjustment is needed for you to do your job because of your disability. Of course everyone has different needs. People who have the same disability, such as spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis, may have very different abilities and limitations. Conversely, people with different kinds of disabilities may have similar functional limitations.
JAN offers suggestions for employers and employees to identify a reasonable accommodation together:
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• Look at the particular job involved. Determine its purpose and its essential functions
• Determine the specific physical or mental abilities and limitations that exist as they relate to the essential job functions. Identify the barriers to job performance and assess how they could be overcome with an accommodation.
• Identify potential accommodations and assess how effective each would be in enabling you to perform essential job functions. You should know that technical assistance is available from a number of sources, many without cost, and there are also financial resources to help pay for accommodations. Check with JAN at the Web site above
The Workplace Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) in Atlanta, Georgia also helps people in need of computer or ergonomic solutions to difficulties at work or in finding a job. Part of the Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access at Georgia Institute of Technology, RERC is looking for people to participate in a study on workplace accommodations. Contact 800-7269119 or www.workrerc.org.
If you use a wheelchair, you might need assistance with personal care while at work. Although your employer is not responsible for providing the personal attendant, he or she is responsible for certain accommodations to enable you to meet your personal care needs, such as allowing you to have a personal attendant, co-worker or service animal to assist you.
United Spinal Association offers a free publication, Understanding the ADA, which explains (and can help employers understand) your rights under the ADA’s employment section. You can order this booklet by calling the toll-free hotline 800-444-0120, or you can download a copy by going to www.unitedspinal.org/pdf/understanding_the_ada.pdf.
Tamar Asedo Sherman works as an employment specialist at UCP-Suffolk in Hauppauge, NY. She can be reached at action@unitedspinal.org
