ADA Workplace Accommodations: A Plain-English Guide for Employers
The interactive process is a legal obligation, not a favor. Here is how to handle accommodation requests correctly.
The ADA requires employers with 15+ employees to provide reasonable accommodations. Getting it wrong generates expensive and avoidable claims.
What the ADA requires from employers
The ADA prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities and requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations that allow a disabled employee to perform the essential functions of their job, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.
A disability under the ADA is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. The definition has been interpreted broadly since the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 and includes many conditions that might not be obvious: depression, anxiety, diabetes, migraines, and certain back conditions can all qualify.
The interactive process: what it is and why it matters
When an employee requests an accommodation or when you become aware of a potential disability-related need, you are legally required to engage in an interactive process with the employee. This is a good-faith, individualized conversation about the employee's limitations and what accommodations might address them.
You are not required to grant every accommodation request, but you are required to engage in the process. An employer who simply denies a request without discussion, or who does not document the interactive process, faces substantially higher legal exposure than one who engages thoughtfully and documents the conversation.
What constitutes a reasonable accommodation
Reasonable accommodations vary widely by role and by the nature of the disability. Common examples include schedule modifications, remote work arrangements, physical workspace adjustments, technology tools or assistive devices, reassignment to a vacant position, and modification of non-essential job duties.
You are required to provide an effective accommodation, not necessarily the specific accommodation the employee requests. If an employee requests a particular accommodation and you believe a different accommodation would be equally effective and less burdensome, you can offer the alternative as long as you document why and engage the employee in that conversation.
Undue hardship: when you can say no
You can deny an accommodation that would impose an undue hardship on your business, defined as significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of your business's size, financial resources, and the nature of the operation. The undue hardship analysis is case-specific.
For small businesses, the cost of an accommodation relative to overall revenue is a relevant factor. However, cost alone is rarely sufficient to establish undue hardship. The EEOC and courts require evidence that the specific accommodation creates a genuine and significant burden, not just an inconvenience.
Documentation and confidentiality
Medical information related to an accommodation request must be kept strictly confidential and stored separately from the employee's regular personnel file. This is a specific ADA requirement, not just best practice. The only people who need to know about an accommodation are those with a direct need to implement it.
Document the entire interactive process: the initial request, what information was gathered, what accommodations were considered, what was offered, and the employee's response. This documentation is your defense if the situation later results in a claim.