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Disability Accommodation - Resources For Staff
Members of the Office of Employment Equity (OEE) are available to counsel university staff employees and supervisors in regard to disability matters and accommodation requests. Faculty and student disability matters are handled by additional units within the university.
OEE oversees compliance of State and Federal laws regarding disability issues:
- New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) - Fact Sheet
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
- Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504
To comply with state and federal laws, when working through the process of disability accommodation for staff employees you must:
Engage in an “interactive process” between the employee and supervisor to determine ways in which disabled employees can perform the “essential functions” of their position “with or without an accommodation” unless an “undue hardship” is created. Coverage by law applies to disabilities that meet either State or Federal definitions of a disability and the restrictions for which an employee may require accommodation must be for a period of 3 months or longer in duration or considered permanent by their physician.
The Office of Employment Equity is available to assist supervisors in obtaining required documentation and assessing whether a disability is in fact covered as defined by law.
Note: The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), unlike the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), does not require that a person’s condition must "limit a major life activity" to be defined as a disability. The NJLAD definition of a disability is much broader than that of the ADA. Employees are entitled to use the law that is most beneficial to them.
The information below provides an overview of information necessary to consider while taking part in the accommodation request process, however, you may contact the Office of Employment Equity at any time for further assistance.
- Essential Functions
- Undue Hardship
- Request for Accommodation
- Interactive Process
- Reasonable Accommodation
- Confidentiality
- Periodic Review of Approved Accommodations
A function of a position is considered essential if:
- the position exists to perform the function;
- there are a limited number of employees available who could perform the function;
- the function is highly specialized.
In defining what functions of a position are essential, the following may be taken into consideration but are not all inclusive as evidence of essential:
- employer’s judgment (i.e. supervisor input);
- a written job description;
- amount of time spent performing a function;
- work experience of people who have and are currently performing the job;
- consequences of not requiring someone in the job to perform the function;
- terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
An essential function is not something which bears only a marginal relationship to the job.
Note: Attendance is normally an essential function of the job. In order to perform the job, an employee must show up to work. Chronic absenteeism may constitute an inability to perform the essential functions of the job, which could remove the employee from being qualified to performed the essential functions of a position. Contact the Office of Employment Equity to discuss your special circumstances.
Undue hardship means a significant difficulty or expense and focuses on the resources and circumstances of the employer (Rutgers University, not an individual department) in relation to the cost or difficulty of providing a specific accommodation. Undue hardship does not only refer to financial difficulty in providing an accommodation but also to the reasonableness of the accommodation in that it would not alter the nature or operation of the department. Each disability accommodation requested is reviewed and assessed on a case by case basis as to whether an undue hardship would be created.
Note: Situations where an accommodation may cause poor morale among other employees in a department have not generally been considered by the courts as "undue hardship."
In most situations, employees with a disability in need of an accommodation to perform the essential functions of their position will bring a request to their supervisor’s attention. They may also contact the Office of Employment Equity or Occupational Health Department, who will then be in contact with the supervisor to discuss the situation disclosing only information that that employee has given approval to be released about their condition.
An accommodation request may also come in writing either from the employee or in the form of a note from the employee’s personal physician regarding restrictions.
A representative of the employee, such as a family member, may also place a request for accommodation on behalf of the employee.
When requesting an accommodation, an employee may use "plain English" and does not need to mention the ADA or NJLAD or use the phrase "reasonable accommodation."
While the employee may request the change due to a medical condition, this does not mean that the university is required to provide the requested accommodation. A request for accommodation is the first step in creating an interactive process between the employee and their supervisor.
Sometimes a supervisor may recognize signs of a disability through job performance or when discussing job performance issues with an employee. These may include, but are not limited to:
- complaints of pain
- absenteeism or tardiness
- decline in performance
- radical change in attitude
- poor quality of work
- frequent accidents, mistakes, carelessness
- change in work patterns
- difficulty in meeting deadlines
- external complaints
In general, it is best to focus on the job performance issue and allow the employee to raise medical or disability issues first. If the employee does not mention in any way a disability or the request for an accommodation, it is strongly recommended that a supervisor contact the Office of Employment Equity for assistance in discerning whether statements or actions can be construed as an accommodation request and how to then approach the employee regarding the issues of disabilities and accommodations.
Once an employee has made a supervisor aware of a request for accommodation, the supervisor and employee should engage in an interactive process and create a dialogue and documentation in working to determine the essential functions of the position and whether or not a reasonable accommodation may be made to allow the employee to perform those functions of their position. The supervisor should also provide the employee with the university’s Guidelines for Disability Accommodations for Staff Employees.
Supervisors and employees may contact the Office of Employment Equity for assistance with:
- determination as to whether a medical condition is a disability as defined by state and federal law
- discussion regarding the interactive process
- drafting or review of documentation and correspondence
- evaluation of essential job functions
- discussion on the reasonableness of a proposed accommodation
In some cases, depending upon the type and amount of restrictions further information may be necessary and various units within the university can gather additional information or provide counseling in conjunction with the Office of Employment Equity so that a supervisor can make an informed decision. The employee would be kept informed of the actions or consultations and supervisors or employees may also be asked to provide information to personnel from units which may include:
- Office of Employment Equity
- Occupational Health Department
- Rutgers Environmental Health and Safety (REHS)
- Office of Labor Relations (union employees)
- Human Resource Consultants (administrative employees)
When engaging in the interactive process it is important for supervisors to remember:
- not all disabilities affect everyone in the same way
- not all persons with similar disabilities require the same accommodation
- at times the process may require additional time to gather information and advice from additional sources
- documentation should be clear and concise
- an open line of communication creating the required interactive process is key
A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment to an employee’s job, schedule or equipment used that does not create an undue hardship. When a employees request an accommodation, employees should inform their supervisor (preferably) or the Office of Employment Equity that he or she needs an adjustment or change at work for a reason related to a medical condition.
Once it has been determined that an employee has a bona fide disability for which a reasonable accommodation may be possible, the supervisor and the employee should continue engaging in the interactive process in determining how an accommodation may be made that assist the employee in performing the essential functions of his or her position without causing an undue hardship for the department.
The interactive process should continue regarding possible reasonable accommodation which may include the employee, front-line supervisor and a physician. Any contact with an employees personal physician should be made by the university’s Occupational Health Department. The Office of Employment Equity can be particularly helpful in researching possible accommodations as well as working with the supervisor to assess how the accommodation may or may not impact the work of the department.
Possible accommodations could include:
- reallocation or redistribution of nonessential functions
- modification of work schedules
- modification of work stations or equipment
- flexible leave arrangements
- leave to obtain treatment
- modification of training materials
- providing qualified readers or interpreters
- extension of leave policy
- purchase of certain equipment or devices such as:
- back brace
- special video display monitor
- special chair
- amplificatioin device
- other
Note: Purchase of certain equipment can be made the responsibility of the employee if that equipment would aid the employee in their day to day, outside of work living. For example, if an employee’s performance was suffering due to a vision problem that was correctable by purchasing eyeglasses, the employee would be responsible for the purchase.
It is extremely important to keep information about an employee’s disability confidential and to share details only with those who have a “need to know.” An employee’s direct supervisor certainly has a need to know since if an accommodation is provided the supervisor will be working to assess the employee’s performance and the effect, if any, a provided accommodation has on the overall production of the department.
University Human Resources is very careful to keep medical records and materials pertaining to the medical condition of an employee in files is kept separate from an employee’s personnel file. Supervisors should do the same in regard to internal files. If your worker has a disability, you are legally required to keep all of the worker's medical records in a separate file with limited access by others.
Periodic Review of Approved Accommodations
If accommodations have been approved and provided, a supervisor should continue to monitor the situation to insure adequate job performance of the employee and that the accommodation is not causing undue hardship to the functioning of the department.
At Rutgers University, it is also common practice to evaluate approved disability accommodations on a periodic basis whether this is temporary (3 months or more in duration) or permanent. Accommodation reviews are conducted to assess:
- adjustment of restrictions based upon a change in a person’s condition
- change in job descriptions or job reclassification
- departmental reorganization
Each of these items may affect the ways in which essential functions are to be performed or the identification of which functions of a position are deemed as essential.
It is the decision of the department as to the time period in which an accommodation will be reviewed. Normal practice is to evaluate an accommodation for the first time after several weeks or months to assess the effectiveness of the accommodation in assisting the employee with performing the essential functions of their position as well as the working needs of the department being met. After the initial review the department may extend the period of accommodation for a longer period of time. Supervisors may contact the Office of Employment Equity for assistance in determining the length of time for reassessment and in drafting documentation and communications to an employee.
The employee and the department both have the requirement to continue in an interactive process while an accommodation is being provided and may ask to reassess the accommodation at any point in time. Permanent accommodations are not given, due to the undpredictability of future change.
