Resources for Employees with Disabilities

When an employee requests a reasonable accommodation for a disability or disabling condition, it is important that you explain your disability-related need for an accommodation. The accommodation requests also require specific information from your health provider.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodations, and communications access to state and local governmental programs and services. The ADA also provides for reasonable accommodations in the work environment for qualified employees.

The Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) is a California law that protects people from employment and housing discrimination. FEHA requires employers with five or more employees to initiate the interactive process when an applicant or employee requests reasonable accommodations.

The ADA and FEHA define a qualified employee as a person who:

1. Satisfies the requisite skill, experience, education, and other job-related requirements of their current job (or job to which they are applying)
2. Can perform the essential job functions (not including the marginal job functions), with or without reasonable accommodation

A reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment, or in how things are usually done, that allows an individual with a disability to apply for a job, perform the essential functions of the job, and otherwise enjoy equal access available to other individuals in the workplace.

The reasonable accommodation provided to one employee may not be the same reasonable accommodation provided to another employee. Each reasonable accommodation is determined through the interactive process.

For existing employees, reasonable accommodations may include any of the following:

• Sick leave
• Unpaid additional leave
• Reassignment to a vacant position for which an employee is qualified
• Job restructuring (reallocating non-essential job functions)
• Leave of absence
• Part-time or modified work schedules
• Assistance in the performance of an essential job function
• Modifying equipment or devices
• Providing qualified readers or interpreters

The following are not considered forms of reasonable accommodations as determined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:

• Removing or eliminating essential functions from a job, even for a limited period of time
• Lowering performance standards, even for a limited period of time
• Providing personal use items (including a prosthetic limb, a wheelchair, eyeglasses, hearing aids, or similar devices) if they are also needed off the job
• Changing the employee's supervisor
• Working at home as a preference
• Monitoring or requiring that an employee take their prescription medications
• Monitoring an employee's medical treatment

Health evaluations for ADA accommodations requests must be provided by a state-licensed or otherwise properly credentialed and qualified professional. If you want to know if your specific health provider is qualified to complete the form, please contact the ADA Coordinator at your college or the district office.

A doctor does not decide the reasonable accommodation that the employer provides. The doctor should provide the employee and the employer with a medical evaluation that explains the restrictions the employee has when doing their job in-person, and which necessitates that the employee work at home. That medical evaluation that is provided helps determine what reasonable accommodation can be provided; because someone wants to work at home and the doctor says it should happen is not the reason to allow someone to work at home. The reasonable accommodation that will be provided will be determined through the interactive process.

If the employee believes the accommodation offered is not reasonable, the employee can present updated information from their health provider. With that updated information, the employee, supervisor/manager, and ADA Coordinator will re-engage in the interactive process discussion to determine what reasonable accommodations would be appropriate given the employee's medical/health evaluation.