Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation

Employers are required to comply with specific laws that protect employees. These include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

The ADA requires employers to give reasonable accommodations to employees with qualifying disabilities. A reasonable accommodation is a modification to the work environment, job duties, or way things are usually done that allows people with disabilities to have equal work opportunity.

Employers may not refuse to interview a qualified individual who can perform the job’s essential functions because they make an accommodation request. Employers also may not use a qualified applicant’s disability as a reason not to hire them for a vacant position. If you need legal advice concerning how remote work impacts your reasonable accommodations, speak with an experienced employment lawyer in your area.

Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation

“If a person has a disability or some kind of impairment, they need to specifically tell the employer and request an accommodation,” says Ashley E. Tremain, an employment litigator with Tremain Artaza in Dallas, who has handled several reasonable accommodation cases on behalf of employees.

“That sounds like a very basic thing, but it’s often that someone comes in and says, ‘My employer is being hard, and they know I have this issue,’ and we say, ‘Have you gone through the accommodation process and asked for assistance — to work in a different area or have fewer hours?’ I’d say more than half the time, the answer is no. The way the law works, the onus is on the employee initially to be the one to reach out and start the application process.”

Tremain adds that it’s best to start the process in writing — such as an email — in case you need to prove it later. An employee does not need to provide medical documentation or make the request in writing, but it is a good idea. An employer may request reasonable documentation or medical information showing the individual has a disability. “Then it’s best to follow up, in person, and have a conversation so it’s not perceived as hostile.” After the employee requests the accommodation, the legal burden shifts. The employer has a legal obligation to begin an interactive process.

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What Counts as a Reasonable Accommodation?

Not all requested accommodations are reasonable or involve an essential function of the job. Sometimes, an employee request simply asks too much of the employer, and the employer denies the request. Under the ADA, accommodations must only be made for employees if they are deemed to be reasonable. When the cost of the accommodation is too expensive for a company to make realistically or if it poses an undue hardship or hazard to other company employees, it is not a reasonable accommodation.

“Unfortunately the law doesn’t give a bright line as to what’s reasonable or not, but generally, an employee needs to prepare to be flexible. It’s best to go to your employer with a couple of ideas and say, ‘I’m having this problem, and I can still do my job if you did A, B, or even C,’” Tremain says. “If they unilaterally reject all the ideas or don’t make suggestions of their own, that’s a big red flag.”

Tremain had a recent client who completed chemotherapy but wasn’t quite ready to return to work full-time. The employer gave her the required leave, but she feared they might terminate her if she couldn’t return to her work schedule full-time. “The disability laws require that you engage in continuing conversations with that employee, even if they can only return part-time,” Tremain says.

Examples of Reasonable Accommodations

Several types of accommodations may allow a job applicant or an employee to perform essential job functions.

Here are a few examples of effective accommodations for a job applicant or employee’s disability:

• Conducting an interview or having an employee work on the first floor of a building if there is no elevator. Asking a company to install an elevator to accommodate an employee in a wheelchair may be an undue burden, but moving an interview or workspace to an area the individual who uses a wheelchair can access is not;
• Allowing an individual who cannot stand for prolonged periods of time to sit on a chair or step stool to perform their job duties;
• Creating a parking space close to the building for an employee who needs it; 
• Allowing a deaf individual to bring a sign language interpreter to their interview; and
• Providing a blind employee with training materials that they can read, such as Braille or large print text.

Effective Communication with Your Employer

Successful outcomes occur through the interactive process, which relies on effective communication. If an employer denies your initial request for a reasonable accommodation, you do not have to settle for the way things are. You can make another reasonable accommodation request.

What To Do if an Employer Denies an Accommodation Request

If the employer has rejected a request and Tremain believes they have a case, she notifies the employer in writing. “More often than not an employee comes to us after they’ve been fired or they were forced to quit,” Tremain says.

Most of Tremain’s cases involve a negotiation with the employer — meaning a settlement — before reaching a courtroom. Before you can sue, you must file discrimination charges through the EEOC — generally within 180 calendar days of the discrimination. However, the deadline is extended up to 300 days in specific circumstances.

“One of the big frustrations is how long all of this takes,” Tremain says. “From the time she’s fired up until the time we can actually file a lawsuit is seven to nine months. And once you file, you’re looking at a year or two before seeing a jury.”

To learn more about workplace accommodations, the EEOC provides helpful enforcement guidance and frequently asked questions about workplace accommodations.

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