Question

. In the language of the ADA and other disability related legislation, there is an emphasis on "reasonable accommodation". When is an accommodation for an employee with a disability beyond what can be considered "reasonable"? Do you have any experience, as an employer or an employee, addressing the issue of "reasonable accommodation"?

Answer 1

An accommodation is 'reasonable' when an employee with a disability needs that in order to perform his/ her duty and enjoy equal access to the workplace or the accommodation calls for the equal opportunity to be rendered or it becomes necessary to ensure accommodation to let the employee enjoy the employment benefits and privileges without having felt discrimination. In order to become 'reasonable', it is essential that the accommodations must not create an undue hardship. From that point of view, removal of essential job function, providing personal use items or even reassignments without considering other options of accommodations are not considered reasonable.

In our company, we had an employee having a particular low vision problem (genetic disorder) in dark. The reasonable accommodation applied to this person was to change the work schedules and making sure that the person works only for the day shift and not called for duty in night shifts. This was a form of reasonable accommodation because it was effective and was not causing any undue hardship.