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This chapter of the manual provides a brief overview of the basic requirements of Title I of the ADA. Following chapters look at these and other requirements in more detail and illustrate how they apply to specific employment practices.
Reasonable accommodation is a critical component of the ADA's assurance of nondiscrimination. Reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment or in the way things are usually done that results in equal employment opportunity for an individual with a disability.
An employer must make a reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified applicant or employee with a disability unless it can show that the accommodation would cause an undue hardship on the operation of its business.
Some examples of reasonable accommodation include: making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to, and usable by, an individual with a disability
An employer is not required to lower quality or quantity standards to make an accommodation. Nor is an employer obligated to provide personal use items, such as glasses or hearing aids, as accommodations.
An employer is not required to provide an accommodation if it will impose an undue hardship on the operation of its business. Undue hardship is defined by the ADA as an action that is:
"excessively costly, extensive, substantial, or disruptive, or that would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the business."
In determining undue hardship, factors to be considered include the nature and cost of the accommodation in relation to the size, the financial resources, the nature and structure of the employer's operation, as well as the impact of the accommodation on the specific facility providing the accommodation. (See Chapter III.)
Virginia Commonwealth University | www.dbtac.vcu.edu
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (#H133A060087-01)
VCU DBTAC Coordination, Outreach and Research Center
1112 East Clay Street| P.O. Box 980330 | Richmond, Virginia 23298-0330
Phone: (804)827-0917 | Fax: (804) 828- 828-1321
This website is maintained by the VCU DBTAC Coordination, Outreach and Research Center.
The VCU DBTAC Coordination, Outreach and Research Center does not provide ADA technical assistance.
For ADA technical assistance, contact your local Center at 800-949-4232.
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