Failure to provide reasonable accommodation for an employee with a disability proposes significant risk from a compliance perspective, impacts engagement of your overall workforce, and damages your company’s brand. Yet, over 35 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), many employers remain unsure of when an accommodation request is reasonable and when it is not.
Reasonable accommodation denials and issues accounted for 33.6% of the EEOC’s lawsuits in 2024. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), an accommodation is not reasonable when it:
- Requires removal of an essential function of the job.
- Imposes an undue hardship.
- Lowers quality or production standards.
- Poses a direct threat to health or safety.
Undue hardship is a factor when the accommodation would cause financial difficulty or expense, is extensive or disruptive, or would cause a fundamental change to business operations. However, with over half of all accommodations having no cost and one-time costs averaging $300, undue hardship has become an increasingly difficult defense to prove when denying accommodation requests.
Consider implementing the following actions to create a positive experience for employees, mitigate risk, and build a disability-inclusive brand.
Train managers to recognize accommodation requests. Remember, employees do not have to say the words “disability” or “accommodations” when making an accommodation request. Reference to a medical reason for requesting a change to address a barrier or a known disability combined with an obvious struggle to perform essential functions may be a sign that an accommodation is needed.
Use an interactive process to promptly evaluate an accommodation request. A well-designed interactive process engages the employee and key resources within the organization to work together to determine a solution. The interactive process allows an employer to analyze the impact to operations, maintain focus on functionality, weigh in costs, and consider alternatives. Many companies are turning toward centralized accommodation funding for their organizations to ensure managers are focusing on the employee’s ability to perform essential functions of a job role rather than only accommodation costs to their individual team.
Avoid creating policies that are too rigid. Define when policies should allow for disability-related exceptions, such as those related to remote work or modified schedules. Changes to policies which do not have an impact on essential functions of a job role or cause undue hardship are often considered viable reasonable accommodations.
Ensure consistency. Consistence in accommodation request evaluation practices and outcomes are critical to ensure fairness for employees with disabilities. Since accommodation needs are often unique to an individual, they must be evaluated independently. However, when two employees with similar needs in similar job roles experience disparate outcomes, this could be viewed as discriminatory. Proper documentation can support why two separate decisions were made.
Assess effectiveness. Some companies make the mistake of believing that once an accommodation is granted no additional steps need to be taken. This may lead to frustration for the employee or supervisor if an accommodation is not being effectively utilized once implemented. Periodic follow-up can lead to improved outcomes and provide opportunities to explore emerging technologies which can even further enhance employee productivity.
Ensure continuity of services. Employees generally expect that once a long-term accommodation is approved that they will continue to have access to the accommodation if there is a change in management or the employee makes a move within the organization. Set clear expectations for when and how accommodations will remain in place or need to be reevaluated when there is a change in management or responsibilities.
Accommodations, when implemented well, have been shown to reduce barriers and address accessibility gaps for people with disabilities. They have also been shown to improve overall employee morale, retention, safety, and workflows and productivity. Due to this business advantage, many employers have begun changing focus toward determining how best to equip their employees with the tools they need to be successful in the workplace rather than trying to prove an accommodation request is unreasonable.