Federal employers must provide workers with reasonable accommodation if they have a qualifying disability. There are many accommodation options available, depending on the severity of the disability and other factors. For example, disabled employees can request telecommuting or work from home, and they can also request physical accommodations in the workplace. Another common request employees ask for is a...
Continue ReadingOn July 29, 2021, the Biden administration announced all federal workers—including service members of the United States military—will be required to show proof of being vaccinated against COVID-19 or otherwise submit to regular testing and wear a mask, as the delta variant has recently caused a significant rise in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths – especially among the unvaccinated. Additionally, the White House required all employees to...
Continue ReadingFederal workers with disabilities can request a reasonable accommodation to make adjustments to their role or work environment. An employer can make changes to the application, hiring process, job duties, or even the work environment to make a job suitable for a disabled worker. Accommodations are considered reasonable if they don’t create an undue hardship. If you are a...
Continue ReadingAccording to the 1999 Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), working from home – also commonly referred to as remote work or telework – is an acceptable form of reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities. The employee must determine whether to grant the worker’s request to work from home as a reasonable accommodation through a...
Continue ReadingUnder both the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, disabled employees may request a reasonable accommodation to ensure they perform their work duties and enjoy equal employment opportunities. While the ADAAA applies to all workplaces, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 specifically protects federal government workers. However, an employer does not have to accommodate a disabled employee if the reasonable accommodation would impose an “undue...
Continue ReadingOn January 15, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its Compliance Manual Section on Religious Discrimination, which aims to clarify how Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects federal employees and private-sector workers from religious discrimination on the job. The agency’s leadership panel voted 3-2 – along party lines – in favor of...
Continue ReadingA reasonable accommodation is any change or adjustment made to a job or work environment that permits a qualified employee with a disability to perform their job process adequately. A reasonable accommodation is meant to help disabled workers perform the essential functions of their job and experience the benefits that are enjoyed by employees without disabilities. Although employers are...
Continue ReadingWhat is a Reasonable Accommodation? Disabled federal employees with mental or physical disabilities can request reasonable accommodations in the workplace. A reasonable accommodation is any change in the work environment or the way a job is carried out that creates equal employment opportunities for disabled people. This right was established from The Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It requires employers...
Continue ReadingWorking from Home as a Reasonable Accommodation More employees in both the public and private sectors are working from home than ever before. This is of course in large part due to the ongoing COVID-19 and closure of many offices categorized as nonessential, but the seismic shift in how we conduct work is transforming how we perceive the office...
Continue ReadingUsing the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA to Assert Your Rights There is nothing worse than knowing you will experience adverse symptoms when at your place of employment. Many offices and worksites can induce a phenomenon known as “sick building syndrome,” or SBS, in which one or more elements of a facility’s condition habitually triggers unpleasant and harmful bodily...
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