Federal employees with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodations allow employees to perform their job and enjoy the rights, benefits, and privileges of their employment.
Many types of accommodations can help remove barriers in the workplace for employees with disabilities. Some include ensuring physical accessibility to facilities, providing assistive software or other technology, reassigning the employee to a vacant position, changing the individual’s schedule, restructuring the job, providing interpreters, or exempting individuals from certain policies. With the rise of return-to-office policies, telework can also be an important reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities who may have difficulty commuting to or performing work at the office.
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is the law that allows federal employees and applicants with disabilities to seek reasonable modifications or adjustments to their work or accommodations during the interview process. 29 U.S.C. § 791(f); 42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.
Who is Eligible for Reasonable Accommodation?
Federal employees can request reasonable accommodation, and applicants to federal positions can request reasonable accommodation during the interview process. To qualify for a reasonable accommodation, an individual must have a disability and be able to perform the essential functions of their job, with or without a reasonable accommodation.
A disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an individual. These major life activities can include activities like,
- caring for oneself,
- performing manual tasks,
- seeing,
- hearing,
- eating,
- sleeping,
- walking,
- standing,
- lifting,
- bending,
- speaking,
- breathing,
- learning,
- reading,
- concentrating,
- thinking,
- communicating,
- and working.
It also includes the operation of a major bodily function, like,
- the immune system,
- normal cell growth,
- digestive,
- bowel,
- bladder,
- neurological,
- brain,
- respiratory,
- circulatory,
- endocrine,
- and reproductive functions.
In 2008, the law was changed to broaden the definition of disability to make it easier for individuals to establish they have a disability. Federal employers should broadly construe the definition of disability and need not engage in extensive analysis to determine that an employee has a disability.
When assessing whether a major life activity is substantially limited, an agency should consider what the individual’s limitations are without treatment like medication, prosthetics, walkers, wheelchairs, etc. For example, an individual with major depressive disorder who does not experience symptoms while on medication would still be considered to have a disability if the depression substantially limits a major life activity, like caring for herself or working, when the disorder is untreated. An individual with a disability can also request reasonable accommodation for symptoms related to side effects of any medication that help treat the disability.
What is an Essential Job Function?
An employee with a disability must be able to successfully complete the essential functions of their job—with or without a reasonable accommodation—to be considered a “qualified” individual with a disability.
The essential functions are the fundamental duties of the position and can differ greatly between jobs. Agencies review position descriptions and how much of an employee’s time is spent on a task or duty when determining if the task is an essential job function. For a position like customer service representative, interacting with the public is an essential function. However, it is likely a marginal duty or task for other positions that work primarily with internal agency stakeholders. Similarly, being able to lift 30 pounds is likely an essential function of a warehouse worker, but not essential for an administrative assistant.
Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation
As the federal government has recently required most employees to return to the office full-time, telework may be a reasonable and effective accommodation for individuals with a variety of disabilities. Some work-related barriers that telework may help alleviate are:
- difficulty commuting to and from work due to disability-related reasons like pain, fatigue, gastrointestinal needs,
- limited access to accessible parking or public transportation,
- limited worksite or workstation accessibility,
- environmental issues like construction activities, exposure to chemicals or irritants, temperature sensitivity, problematic lighting,
- exposure to viruses and bacteria, and
- workplace distractions that affect concentration.
Additionally, because most agencies utilized telework extensively throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and until recently, many federal employees have demonstrated they are able to successfully perform their essential job functions in a telework setting. Because most agencies previously had to adjust to full-time remote work, there are likely limited costs and burdens on those agencies to allow qualified individuals to work remotely for some or all of the time—depending on the position they hold.
The EEOC has found that telework is a reasonable accommodation for a variety of different conditions and symptoms. For example, temporary telework for an employee while she recovered from surgery to treat her congenital hip dysplasia was reasonable. Additionally, the EEOC has found that regular telework was a reasonable accommodation for an employee who had allergic asthma and whose office contributed to his symptoms. The EEOC has also found that having the ability to situationally or intermittently telework based on flare-ups of conditions like fibromyalgia, diabetes, neuropathy, depression, or anxiety is a reasonable accommodation. More EEOC cases where telework was a reasonable accommodation can be found within the EEOC’s Digests of Equal Employment Opportunity Law here and here.
How Do I Request a Reasonable Accommodation?
As a federal employee, you can request reasonable accommodation at any time during the period of your employment. Individuals need not use “magic words” to request a reasonable accommodation. They can request a specific accommodation or just indicate that they are having an issue performing their job due to a disability.
All agencies are required to have a written policy for processing reasonable accommodation requests. If the agency has a policy that requires that a form be filled out or a request be made in writing, the agency still has to begin processing the request as soon as it receives notice of the individual’s need for reasonable accommodation.
After learning that an individual requires reasonable accommodation, agencies are legally required to engage in an “interactive process” with employees. The interactive process is the back-and-forth discussion that must occur between the employee and employer to ensure that an employee who qualifies for an accommodation receives a reasonable one. As a part of this process, the agency should seek to understand the limitations of the individual and what would be an effective accommodation to allow them to be successful in their job.
The Role of Medical Documentation in Reasonable Accommodation Requests
If an individual’s need for accommodation is obvious, such as blindness or significant paralysis, the interactive process should generally not include asking individuals for medical documentation to establish the disability.
If an individual’s disability and need for accommodation is not obvious, the agency can request medical documentation that is limited to demonstrating the existence of the disability and the necessity of the particular accommodation sought. A letter from a healthcare provider that explains the diagnosis, how long the impairment will last, and in what ways it limits the individual’s ability to perform their job is usually sufficient.
Any medical information shared with the agency must be kept confidential and separate from an employee’s personnel file. The agency can only share information learned from the medical documentation with supervisors and managers who need to know about necessary restrictions on the work or duties of the employee and about the necessary accommodation(s). The agency can also share medical information with first aid and safety personnel if the disability might require emergency treatment.
What Happens After I Request a Reasonable Accommodation?
The agency is required to provide reasonable accommodation if it determines you are a qualified individual with a disability. The agency should process your reasonable accommodation request in a timely manner and should not take more than a few weeks to make a decision on a reasonable accommodation or to implement an accommodation that it has approved. The agency must also provide employees with an interim accommodation while the agency processes the request. If an agency unreasonably delays the processing or implementing of a reasonable accommodation, this amounts to a denial of the reasonable accommodation and could be a violation of the law if you are entitled to an accommodation.
An agency is not required to provide the specific accommodation requested if there are other effective accommodations that are easier or more cost effective to implement. For example, an individual who is blind may need assistance writing or typing. He can request an assistant to whom he can dictate his writing. But if providing the employee a speech-to-text software is an effective accommodation and more cost effective, the agency can provide the employee with the software rather than an assistant. The agency’s alternative accommodation must be effective at remedying the workplace barrier.
What Happens if the Agency Denies my Reasonable Accommodation Request?
An agency can deny a reasonable accommodation request for a variety of legitimate reasons, but if you believe the agency’s decision is wrong, you can appeal the decision or file a complaint of disability discrimination with the agency.
An agency can deny a reasonable accommodation if the individual does not meet the definition of a qualified individual with a disability, the accommodation is not reasonable, or the accommodation would be an “undue hardship” on the agency. An “undue hardship” is a significant difficulty or expense for the agency. Undue hardship results when the accommodation is extremely expensive in light of the agency’s budget, or if the accommodation would be highly disruptive or fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the agency’s work.
Agencies are required to explain in writing the reason for the denial of a reasonable accommodation request. Many agencies have an internal appeal process for employees to request reconsideration of their reasonable accommodation request. Any denial of a reasonable accommodation request should notify the employee of any available internal appeals or reconsideration processes, in addition to their right to file an EEO complaint. The first part of the reconsideration process usually involves presenting additional information to support the accommodation to the official who made the original decision. If the deciding official does not change their decision, there is often a second-line supervisor or other individual to whom an employee can make a final appeal.
Because the improper denial of a reasonable accommodation can be a form of disability discrimination, employees can file an EEO complaint with their agency if their reasonable accommodation is denied—even before filing any appeal with the agency. To file an EEO complaint, employees must contact an EEO counselor at their agency within 45 days of a denial of their reasonable accommodation or denial of any internal appeal or reconsideration.
After the employee meets with an EEO counselor, the agency may attempt to reach a resolution with the employee. If no resolution is reached, the employee has the right to file a formal EEO complaint challenging the denial of their reasonable accommodation. More information on the Federal Sector EEO Complaint Process can be found here.
This article solely provides general information and is not intended as legal advice. If you need legal advice or representation requesting a reasonable accommodation, or you think your reasonable accommodation has been improperly denied, Atkinson Law Group may be able to help; you can contact us here for a consultation.
