The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to workers who need them. A failure to do so could be disability discrimination. But what is a reasonable accommodation, and what should you do if your employer refuses to provide one?
California law and federal laws protect workers with disabilities and require employers to provide reasonable accommodations.
A reasonable accommodation is some type of assistance that allows a person to do his or her job. That can mean changes to a position or to a workplace, or another type of assistance. The ADA requires employers to provide these reasonable accommodations unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.
In this case, an undue hardship refers to an excessive difficulty or unreasonable cost.
Usually, reasonable accommodations involve:
Anyone who has a disability can ask his or her employer to make a reasonable accommodation. Here are a few examples of reasonable accommodations (but keep in mind that “reasonable” depends on the employer, the workplace and the employee):
For some employers, these might not be reasonable accommodations. A small employer with only one location can’t allow an employee to transfer to another location. However, you can ask your employer to make any type of accommodation you want – it’s just that the employer doesn’t necessarily have to agree to it. If the accommodation you want would cost the employer too much money, or if it would be very difficult to pull off, your employer may legally be entitled to say no.
Again, employers don’t have to provide accommodations if they would cause undue hardship. That means the request for accommodation is unreasonable, given the employer’s circumstances. If you were to sue your employer for failing to make a reasonable accommodation, the court would look at things like:
It’s not only about money, though. The court will also look at tax credits and deductions an employer could use to provide accommodations, as well as whether the employee was willing to pay for some of the costs. It can be very difficult for an employer to claim that making an accommodation would cause undue hardship.
First things first: You must request the accommodation. Your employer doesn’t have to anticipate your needs – you have to make the request. You don’t have to request it in writing; verbal is fine. Another employee can make the request instead.
If your employer ignores your request, put it in writing. Specifically mention the Americans with Disabilities Act, and note that you have a legal right to a reasonable accommodation.
Then, if your employer continues to ignore your request, you may need to talk to an attorney.
You can call us at 818-230-8380 for a free case review. We’ll talk about your situation and gather information to find out if you have a case.
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