Reasonable Accommodation Attorneys in Burbank
Ensuring Proper Treatment in the Workplace
What is a reasonable accommodation?
A federal law titled Americans with Disabilities Act protects “qualified employees” who have disabilities and prohibits “covered employers” from discriminating against or treating their employees differently due to their disabilities. In California, employees have even greater protections because of a California law titled the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The protections offered by the Fair Employment and Housing Act are independent of those provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Fair Employment and Housing Act applies to smaller employers and applies even to temporary physical or mental conditions.
When an employee has a “qualified disability,” the Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Employment and Housing Act require the employer to provide a reasonable accommodation. This means that the employer has to make a reasonable accommodation for the known disabilities of applicants and employees to enable them to perform a position’s “essential functions” unless doing so would produce “undue hardship” to the employer’s operations.
What types of accommodations must my employer provide to me?
A reasonable accommodation is any modification or adjustment to the workplace that enables you to perform the “essential functions” of the job held or desired.
Examples of reasonable accommodations include:
- Making facilities readily accessible to and usable by disabled individuals (e.g., providing accessible break rooms, restrooms, training rooms or reserved parking places, acquiring or modifying furniture, equipment or devices or other similar adjustments)
- Job restructuring
- Offering part-time or modified work schedules
- Reassigning to a vacant position
- Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices
- Adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies
- Providing qualified readers or interpreters
- Allowing assistive animals on the worksite
- Altering when and/or how an essential function is performed
- Modifying supervisory methods
- Providing additional training
- Permitting an employee to work from home
- Providing paid or unpaid leave for treatment and recovery
This is not an exhaustive list and there are other accommodations that may be requested and required.
While employers must provide reasonable accommodations, not all accommodation requests must be provided. An employer is not required to provide the requested accommodation if it is unreasonable or would cause an “undue hardship” to the business operations. Consult with our employment law attorneys in Burbank to discuss your situation.
Call the Akopyan Law Firm at (818) 509-9975 today.