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ADA Disability Accommodation and Discrimination: A Guide for Employers

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ADA Overview

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a significant piece of federal legislation that protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination in various areas of life. Title I, in particular, applies to the protection of individuals with disabilities in the area of employment. Title I ensures that, so long as individuals with disabilities can perform the essential functions of a given job with or without reasonable accommodation from their employers, they are awarded equal employment opportunities and treatment within the workplace. All employers with 15 or more employees are strictly bound by the ADA. For these employers, understanding and complying with the ADA is crucial to fostering an inclusive and legally compliant workplace.

Definition of “Disability”

The ADA defines the term “disability” as any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of an individual’s major life activities. The ADA provides various examples of “major life activities,” including seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, standing, reading, concentrating, and working. Some disabilities are visible or easily identifiable, while others are not. Some examples of common impairments that qualify as disabilities under the ADA are as follows:

Key ADA Provisions Relevant to Employers

The Act mandates annual training for employees, utilizing resources from OSHA, CDC, and NIOSH. This training seeks to equip workers with the knowledge and skills needed to prevent and respond to workplace violence. The training programs included:

Employer Responsibilities

Pursuant to the ADA, disability discrimination occurs when an employer treats a qualified individual with a disability unfavorably or unfairly because of that person’s disability. In order to avoid engaging in disability discrimination, employers have certain responsibilities to ensure that disabled employees and prospective employees are treated fairly.​​

Fair Hiring and Firing Practices​

Employers bound by the ADA have a responsibility to implement and follow hiring practices that ensure that qualified people with disabilities have the same opportunity for employment as their non-disabled counterparts. The ADA also prohibits employers from firing a person with a disability on the basis of that disability, and prohibits retaliatory firing of employees who request reasonable accommodations.​​

ADA-Compliant Workplace

The ADA imposes a responsibility upon employers to refrain from utilizing discriminatory training practices, creating unequal access to promotions and employee benefits, and limiting an employee’s ability to take leave. Employers are also required to maintain a working environment that is free from harassment on the basis of disability.

Reasonable Accommodations

Employers have a responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations refer to adjustments or modifications that enable employees with disabilities to perform their essential job functions. Examples include:

ADA-Compliant Hiring Practices

One goal of the ADA is to ensure that qualified job applicants with disabilities are given the same opportunities for employment as all other applicants. With this being said, the ADA does not prevent employers from hiring the most qualified applicant. Rather, it prohibits employers from precluding an applicant solely because of his or her disability.

What is a “Qualified Employee”?

Employees and prospective employees with disabilities are considered to be “qualified” so long as their disabilities do not prevent them from performing essential job functions, with or without reasonable accommodation. Prospective employees with disabilities are still considered qualified, even if their disabilities prevent them from performing duties that are nonessential to the position for which they are applying.

ADA-Compliant Hiring Practices

Maintaining an ADA-Compliant Workplace​

The ADA imposes a duty on employers to create and maintain a work environment free from discrimination. The best way to ensure that a workplace is discrimination-free is to take the following steps:

Implementing Reasonable Accommodations

Steps for Employers: ​

In order to be compliant with the ADA, employers should take the following steps when identifying and ultimately implementing reasonable accommodations:

  1. Identifying the Need for Accommodation: When an employer is made aware of an employee’s disability, it should assess whether that disability necessitates an accommodation. The need for an accommodation is most commonly identified when an employee submits an accommodation request, or when the employee and employer engage in another form of communication whereby the employee discloses the need for an accommodation. The need for a reasonable accommodation can also be made apparent through performance assessments.
  2. Engaging in the Interactive Process: Employers and employees should engage in an open dialogue to identify appropriate accommodations. This collaborative approach helps in finding effective solutions tailored to the employee’s needs.
  3. Asking for Desired Accommodation: Employers should always ask employees who require reasonable accommodations what type of accommodation they are seeking. The ADA does not require employers to provide the sought-after accommodation if another type of accommodation would impose less hardship on the employer, while achieving the same result.
  4. Providing the Accommodation: Unless providing a reasonable accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer, the accommodation must be provided as soon as possible.​

Documenting Accommodation Requests

​When handling accommodation requests, employers should document the entire process from start to finish. This means documenting:

Common Attacks on Employers

Some of the most common accusations that employees make against employers regarding purported ADA violations are as follows:

Avoiding Discrimination Claims​

​​In order to stay ADA-compliant and avoid discrimination claims from prospective, current, and former employees, employers should follow these steps:

  1. Education: The first step to making sure that your business is complying with all provisions of the ADA is to make sure that all key staff members are educated on the specific requirements imposed. Comprehensive ADA education should be ongoing to ensure that your business is aware of, and posed to comply with, periodic changes in legislation.
  2. Policies and Procedures: Businesses seeking to comply with the ADA should implement robust policies and procedures that adequately satisfy all of the federallyimposed requirements. These include procedures relating to job applicants with disabilities, the handling of accommodation requests, and steps to address complaints related to disability discrimination.
  3. Training and Awareness: Carrying out periodic training and awareness initiatives for supervisors and employees is paramount to ensuring all staff members understand the requirements imposed by the ADA and are using their best efforts to abide by them. Appropriate training and awareness techniques include workshops and seminars, online courses and webinars, and consultations with ADA experts.
  4. Audits and Reviews: Conducting internal ADA compliance audits helps to identify and rectify potential gaps in an employer’s approach. Employers can also utilize external resources to conduct compliance checks and ensure that their approach is comprehensive.

Conn Maciel Carey LLP​

ADA compliance is a cornerstone of creating a fair and inclusive workplace. Because of this, employers are encouraged to take proactive steps to understand and implement ADA requirements, and foster an environment where all employees can thrive. Conn Maciel Carey’s national Labor and Employment Practice Group represents employers in all aspects of the employment relationship. This includes employers seeking to become ADA compliant or who need vigorous defense after being charged with violating the ADA. Our services include:

Reach out to us today at (202) 715-6244.

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