Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

What Is the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)?

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1991 is a part of the United States Code affirming the rights of individuals with disabilities to employment, housing, education, communication, transportation, and other public and private services. It was also amended by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), which took effect on January 1, 2009.

This act expanded the definition of the word “disability” to encompass a wider range of conditions not previously covered by Supreme Court interpretations of the word. This expansion allowed for a broad scope of protection and made it easier for people to demonstrate that they have a disability and are justified in bringing an ADA claim.

Who Is Covered Under the Americans with Disabilities Act?

The Americans with Disabilities Act expressly forbids discrimination against people with disabilities when it comes to employment (including hiring practices and everyday job performance), public accommodations, communications (including websites), transportation, and access to government services.

The ADA defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity such as speaking, hearing, seeing, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, learning, or working. When the ADAAA was signed into law in 2008, it expanded this definition to include other actions, such as bending or lifting objects.

The ADA, along with federal agencies like the Department of Labor, supports people with disabilities by establishing and promoting guidelines to help employers, government agencies, businesses, website owners, and other entities make reasonable and appropriate accommodations to promote accessibility.

How Does the Americans with Disabilities Act Affect Employment?

The ADA added the issues of people with disabilities to the purview of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Created to enforce the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOC is responsible for finding and remediating discriminatory employment practices.

If a person with a disability can perform the essential functions of a job, with or without reasonable accommodation, then employers covered under Title I of the ADA cannot refuse to hire them on the basis of their disability. Employers with 15 or more employees are required to comply with this rule.

If an employer refuses to do so, a person may file a Charge of Discrimination with the EEOC. The agency will then investigate the claim and may decide to pursue a settlement or lawsuit against the employer. If the agency cannot determine whether an ADA violation has occurred, the person who filed the charge may then decide to sue the employer for discrimination.

Here’s what is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act when it comes to employment:

• Recruitment: Ensuring compliant language is used in job descriptions
• Firing: Not terminating an employee for needing accommodations
• Hiring: Avoiding intentional refusals to hire candidates because they have a disability
• Training: Providing equal access to training opportunities and reasonable accommodations to take advantage of them
• Job Assignments: Providing modifications to job requirements and accommodations where necessary and requested
• Promotions: Not passing employees over for promotions based on their disability
• Pay: Not paying an employee less because of their disability or need for reasonable accommodations
• Benefits: Providing equal access to all benefits packages and privileges of employment
• Layoffs: Avoiding basing layoff decisions on an employee’s disability status or penalizing employees because of a need for reasonable accommodations
• Leave: Complying with all federal leave laws (such as FMLA) as well as modifying policies when employees with disabilities need additional leave as part of a reasonable accommodation

The ADA also prevents employers from retaliating against disabled persons who assert their rights under ADA Title I.

What Enables an Employee to Be Covered by the ADA?

To qualify for ADA protection, an employee must meet two criteria. First, they need to satisfy the requirements listed in the employer’s job description, including employment experience, skills, licenses, and education. Second, they must be able to perform essential job functions, whether on their own or with the help of a reasonable accommodation. An employer cannot refuse to hire a person whose disability prevents them from performing non-essential duties.

How Does the Americans with Disabilities Act Define Reasonable Accommodation?

Reasonable accommodations are changes or adjustments to a job or work environment that provide accessibility for persons with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations include the following:

• Providing or modifying equipment or devices
• Job restructuring
• Part-time or modified work schedules
• Reassignment to a vacant position
• Adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies
• Providing readers and interpreters
• Making the workplace readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities

Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations unless they can show that the accommodation would create an undue hardship through significant difficulty or expense.

Tips for Employers When Employees Request ADA Accommodations at Work

If you are an ADA-covered employer with at least one employee with a disability, you must do everything in your power to provide reasonable ADA accommodations in the workplace if the employee requests them. Here are a few tips for handling these requests:

• Create a culture of trust among all employees so that everyone feels comfortable coming to you to make requests and engaging with you in meeting their needs.
• Make sure your employees know how to get ADA accommodations at work by ensuring this info is covered in your employee handbook and other onboarding materials.
• Familiarize yourself with the ADA’s interactive process, which will help you recognize accommodation requests, gather the right information, and explore accommodation options with the employee.
• Request proper medical documentation from the employee so you can keep accurate records of your accommodation provisions.
• Manage all accommodations on a case-by-case basis and avoid making assumptions about employees based on what you think you may know.
• Let the employee know you are open to reassessing their accommodations if the need arises.

Don’t forget that violating your employees’ rights can lead to serious trouble with the EEOC or result in lawsuits. Consider the law and the needs of your employees as you move forward with accommodations requests.