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Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Policy and Procedure for Resolving Employee Requests for Accommodation
The Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") requires that employers make reasonable accommodation to enable qualified disabled persons to perform the essential functions of their jobs and enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment. "An individual with a disability" is someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment or is regarded as having such an impairment. To meet the job related requirements of the position and be considered a qualified person under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the individual must have the ability to perform the essential functions of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation.
Reasonable accommodations may include, but are not limited to the following: making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities; job restructuring; part-time or modified work schedules; reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices; adjustment or modifications of examinations; modifying training materials or policies; and providing qualified readers of interpreters. All requests should receive prompt consideration.
Faculty and staff requests for accommodations will be handled according to the following procedure.
Procedure for resolving requests for accommodation
Departmental
A disabled employee who desires an accommodation should submit a written request to his or her immediate supervisor. If the request is not in writing, it should be reduced to writing by the supervisor. Requests may also be received at University Health Services as part of a return to work examination after a health-related leave. All requests received by University Health Services will be forwarded to the employee's supervisor. It is the employee's responsibility to provide University Health Services with appropriate medical information on the disability to support the accommodation request. All employee medical information received by the department will be promptly sent to University Health Services for evaluation. University Health Services will advice management on the employee's limitations. This is not a legal determination that the employee is disabled as defined by the ADA.
To respond to an employee's initial request for accommodation, the supervisor should conduct an assessment of the accommodation request as it relates to the employee's essential job duties and the operations of the department. In performing this evaluation, common sense should be the rule. Many requests for accommodations involve only minor alterations and minimal cost and may be accomplished with little outside assistance, such as with routine advise provided from University Health Services. In such situations, if the supervisor has no objection to the accommodation requested, the supervisor should proceed with the resolution of the request for accommodation.
Again, the decision to grant a request for an accommodation at this level is not to be construed as a determination by the University that the individual is "disabled" as that term is defined by the ADA or that the accommodation is legally required. Such a determination can only be made by the ADA Committee in consultation with the Office of General Counsel.
The employee should be kept advised of the progress of the initial assessment and given an opportunity to provide input. Both the supervisor and employee should be aware that the requested accommodation may not be the only accommodation that will enable the employee to perform the essential functions of the job. An alternative reasonable accommodation may be implemented which meets the employee's needs. In the event the request for accommodation cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of either the department or the employee, the department should forward the employee's written request for an accommodation to the Chair, ADA Committee, for a recommendation.
ADA Committee
After the written request for accommodation has been forwarded from the employee's department, the ADA Committee will work to resolve the request and recommend appropriate action. To resolve the request for accommodation from the employee the following procedure will be used:
Determine if the employee has a disability under the ADA and the extent, duration, and impact of the impairment on the employee. Where there is a dispute about a requested accommodation that cannot be resolved at a department level, an employee who requested the accommodation shall contact University Health Services and make an appointment for review of the employee's medical condition. University Health Services will verify the medical condition, and in cooperation with the employee's doctor determine the extent, duration, and impact of the impairment on the employee's capacity to work and perform the essential functions of the job. University of Health Services, with the assistance of Disability Management, will make a determination to clarify what work restrictions, if any, the employee may have and share the information on the employee's ability to perform the job duties with the employee's department and the ADA Committee. Based on the information provided, the ADA Committee, in consultation with the Office of General Counsel, will determine if the employee has a disability as defined by the ADA.
Determine whether the employee can perform the essential functions of the job and what accommodations may be appropriate. In cooperation with management, University Health Services may conduct a job evaluation to ascertain the essential functions of the job, as well as the areas of incompatibility that may exist between job demands and the employee's work restrictions. The ADA committee will discuss an appropriate accommodation with the employee's management that would enable the employee to perform the essential functions of the job. If the employee cannot perform the essential job duties with or without accommodation, other options will be explored including reassignment to vacant position or disability leave. In all cases, where an employee with a disability requests an accommodation, the ADA Committee will review the case and with input from the employee, management, University Health Services, Disability Management, and the Office of General Counsel, make a written recommendation.