As a disabled person, you have the right to fair and equal treatment in the workplace. You are protected under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and, therefore, you are entitled to certain adjustments and protected from discrimination from employers.
This fact sheet outlines some of the information that is helpful to know. This will help you to ask and receive support you may find useful when applying for roles and doing your job in the workplace.
What is a Disability?
The ADA defines a person with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity.
There are many ways a person can be disabled. These ways are:
- A physical impairment.
- A mental health impairment.
- A learning impairment (or intellectual disability).
- Neurodiversity.
- A sensory impairment.
- A long-term health condition.
A person can have more than one disability at the same time. For example, somebody might have a mental health impairment that causes them anxiety, and at the same time, they may identify as an autistic person.
Disability is not always visible. In fact, most disability is invisible. A disabled person may suffer from a pain-related disability. Meaning that the effects of their disability mean that they need medication to be able to manage their pain.
Disability does not have to be constant and doesn’t necessarily stay the same; a person may have a fluctuating disability. This means that sometimes their disability is more present in their life than in other times. An example of this is somebody struggling with anxiety: they may not have anxiety every day. However, when they do have bouts of anxiety, it has a substantial effect on how they manage their daily activities. Similarly, a person may have a progressive disability that changes over time.
Your Rights in the Workplace
The ADA prohibits businesses and organizations with more than 15 employees from discriminating against disabled people in the workplace and when applying for roles. The range of businesses and organizations include:
- Private employers.
- Local and state governments.
- Employment agencies.
- Labour unions.
An employer or a potential employer must implement “reasonable accommodations” to make sure disabled people can carry out the essential duties of their job role.
Reasonable Accommodations
Reasonable accommodations are tangible or intangible resources that an employer implements to ensure their disabled employee or candidate has an opportunity to perform to the best of their ability. There is no exhaustive list of what a reasonable accommodation can be as it has to be flexible and match the needs of the disabled person.
Reasonable accommodations can include:
- Changes to somebody’s working hours. Enabling them to work at the time of day that is suitable for them.
- Restructuring a role. For example, if part of somebody’s role was carrying boxes up and down stairs, the employer can re-assign that duty to another member of the team. This will enable the disabled employee to continue carrying out the essential elements but without the physical moving and handling.
- Providing equipment. This could be screen reading software, a computer with dictation software installed, adjustable height tables and chairs, and headphones to block out surround sound.
- Relocating a permanent office. If a disabled employee is required to work in an office where the building is not accessible, that employee may be relocated to an office that has step-free access.
It will be important to work alongside your employer to work out how you can make the most out of your role. So, if part of your role is not accessible to you, there may be ways of adapting it to make it work. For example, if you need to travel for work but cannot drive, your employer might provide you with a tailored expense account for you to use public transport.
Asking for support and accommodations
In many situations, employers are supported to reach out to employees on a regular basis. Offering an employee and opportunity to talk about any support needs they may have. However, as an employee, you can reach out to your employer at any time as well.
If you feel you could benefit from support and a reasonable accommodation, you can have a conversation with your employer about how they can support. This will include a conversation about any accommodations that can be implemented, and your employer will source these accommodations, pay for them (when they have a cost) and implement them on your behalf. Your employer is always responsible for paying for these accommodations. They should never ask you to pay for them.
This is also the case for a candidate applying for a role in the company. As a disabled candidate, you have the right to ask for an accommodation to complete your application form and your interview.
Many employers invite you to contact them to tell them about any support needs you have for your application and interview. Even if they do not openly invite you to do so, you can contact them and ask them for support. Examples of support you might ask for include:
- Your application form in large print or on a Word document.
- ASL interpreter for your interview.
- Your questions sent to you ahead of time so that you can prepare for your interview.
- Closed captions in your online interview.
As before, this is not an exhaustive list but are just some suggestions of what you may find helpful. Your employer or contact at the company can adapt the accommodation to your need.
Feeling confident to have a conversation about support
Sometimes, it can be a bit scary thinking about having a conversation about the support you need. This could be for many reasons. It is important to remember that you are asking for support so you can do the best job that you can possibly do, and therefore, by having the support, you’re benefiting your employer.
Here are a few tips to help you prepare for a conversation:
- You don’t need to have all the answers. You don’t need to have all the answers before you have the conversation. Your line manager can support you to think about what would work best for you. They may have experience of implementing reasonable accommodations for another employee and therefore, can use some of this experience to help you think about what will help you.
- You are not responsible for this on your own. Your manager has a responsibility to help you find the accommodation that is suitable for you.
- Think about how you manage in another situation. Although you may not have experienced this exact situation in the workplace, you may have had similar situations in the past. For example, at home, at university, on holiday. If you can remember how you managed in a different situation, you may be able to apply that in this situation.
- Talk to friends and co-workers. They may have some ideas about what could support you. They may also have experience of reasonable accommodations that they have used themselves.
- It is okay to try different things. It might help to try a few things before you find the one that works for you. Don’t forget, if your disability changes or if your role changes, you may need different accommodations anyway! That is perfectly fine.
For further support,
contact KGA 24/7 at 800-648-9557.
This content is provided by
Celebrating Disability.
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