“Reasonable Accommodation” in California – A Guide for Workers

California employers have a legal duty to make reasonable accommodations for your disabilities to help you perform your essential job duties. Examples of reasonable accommodations (RAs) include:

• making a worksite wheelchair accessible,
• allowing you to leave work to attend doctor appointments,
• buying equipment to better accommodate you, and/or
• restructuring your job duties or requirements.

The only time your employer can deny you a reasonable accommodation is if it would cause them to incur an “undue hardship” due to significant:

• expense, or
• difficulty.

Your employer failing to reasonably accommodate you is employment discrimination on the basis of disability. You can demand accommodations and monetary damages by:

• filing an ADA complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act;
• filing a labor board complaint with the California Civil Rights Department; and/or
• bringing a civil lawsuit.

Our California labor and employment law attorneys will address the following in this article:

• 1. Workplace Duties
• 2. Reasonable Accommodations
• 3. “Disability” Meaning
• 4. Employer Denials
• 5. Can I sue?
• 6. Request Forms
• Additional Resources

1. Workplace Duties

California employment law imposes an affirmative duty of “reasonable accommodation” on an employer when it learns that you have a certain known disability. In this situation, the employer has a legal duty to:

1. reasonably accommodate, or provide for, you, and
2. do so in a manner that allows you to perform your essential functions of the position.¹

This duty applies unless an accommodation imposes an “undue hardship” on the employer.²

Note that this “reasonable accommodation” duty does not apply to California employers with less than five employees.³

“Interactive Process” to Accommodate your Disability

Once an employer learns of your disability, California law requires:

• the employer to enter into an “interactive process” with you, and
• do so in a reasonable effort to help find an appropriate accommodation.⁴

An “interactive process” refers to communication between the employer and you that:

• helps the employer find the right accommodation, and
• ensures that it assists you in performing the essential functions of a job.⁵

Your Employer’s Obligations

If you request a reasonable accommodation, the employer must respond to it in a timely fashion and act in good faith. Even if you do not directly request an accommodation, an employer should provide one as long as:

• your disability is observable, or
• someone else informs the employer of your disability.

Employers can only request a doctor’s note if the reason for your accommodation request is not obvious.

Note that your employer must keep confidential your medical records and any other records obtained through your “interactive process” (unless you say otherwise). These records must be kept separately from your personnel file.⁶

Remember, if you have a disability, you have the responsibility to ask for accommodations. Disabled employees who do not ask for accommodation – and do poor work – can be terminated.

2. Reasonable Accommodations

An employer makes a “reasonable accommodation” when it makes appropriate adjustments so that you can perform the “essential functions” of your job despite your disability.⁷

Whether a Job Function is “Essential”

In determining whether a job function qualifies as “essential,” courts consider:

• How specialized the job function is;
• How many other employees can perform the function; and
• Whether the purpose of your job is to perform that function.

Common evidence in these cases include:

• your work history in similar positions;
• the work history of past employees with same or similar jobs;
• whether prior performance reviews discuss the job function and how essential it is;
• how much time you spend on a particular job function;
• your job description;
• the training materials applicable to your job; and
• the consequences of the job function not being performed.⁸

Examples of Reasonable Accommodations

The following are examples of an employer’s reasonable accommodations:

• buying equipment to accommodate your disability and increase accessibility,
• job restructuring or alterations in work schedules,
• letting you take time off of work to make health care appointments,
• making changes in the work environment to allow for a wheelchair-accessible work site (including bathrooms, break rooms, and parking),
• reassignment of you to a vacant position,
• bringing an assistive dog to the office,
• modifying the job application process, exams, training materials, and company policies for people with disabilities,
• making schedules more flexible (“flex-time”),
• an unpaid leave of absence, and
• relaxing work restrictions, such as removing non-essential duties.

Example: Joe is an outside salesperson for a company based in Los Angeles. He works part-time in the office and spends three days a week traveling to meet with clients in San Francisco.

Joe gets in a car accident that leaves him wheelchair-bound. He speaks with his employer’s Human Resources Department and asks if it can make any reasonable and effective accommodations to help him perform his job tasks given his disability.

As part of the reasonable accommodation process, the company changes Joe’s duties so that he longer has to fly to San Francisco and allows him to work full-time in the Los Angeles location. These changes represent a type of accommodation that is reasonable.

3. “Disability” Meaning

A “disability” is a condition that limits a major life activity by making it more difficult for you to perform that activity.⁹ “Major life activities” include things like:

• walking,
• eating,
• working,
• performing physical tasks and activities, and
• engaging in social interactions.¹⁰

Qualifying Disabilities

A qualified individual under these laws can suffer from either:

• a mental or intellectual disability (such as bipolar disorder, learning disabilities, or other mental impairment or illness), or
• a physical disability (such as migraines, missing a limb, organ impairment, or being paralyzed), or
• a medical condition, defined as either (1) cancer, or (2) genetic characteristics associated with an increased risk of developing a disease or disorder

Not covered are:

• sex behavior disorders,
• usage of unlawful psychoactive substances, or
• such disorders as compulsive gambling, starting fires (pyromania), or stealing (kleptomania).

Also, California state employees with marijuana prescriptions do not enjoy legal protections for pot use.¹¹

Whether you have a qualifying disability is important because if you do not have one, employers do not have to accommodate it.

4. Employer Denials

Employers have a duty to provide you reasonable accommodations for your disability unless doing so would impose an “undue hardship.”

An “undue hardship” means that the company would experience significant difficulty or expense by making appropriate accommodations.¹² If there would be an undue hardship, then the business can deny your request for reasonable accommodations.

What Comprises an “Undue Hardship”

The facts of a case often determine whether an undue hardship exists. Some important factors to consider in this determination are:

• the true cost of the accommodations,
• the size of the business (such as the number of employees) and its financial resources,
• how the business is structured,
• the type of work the company performs (“type of operations”), and
• the interactions among the company’s facilities.¹³

5. Can I sue?

If there is no undue hardship, and your employer denies your request for reasonable accommodations, then you may be able to file a complaint with either:

• the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC.gov), a federal agency that enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); and/or
• the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), a state agency that enforces the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

An employment attorney can help you determine which route to take. An attorney can also help you decide whether you should request that the agency give you a “right to sue” notice so you can bypass the agency investigations and bring a traditional lawsuit right away.

Note that you also may be able to file a claim if your employer retaliates against you due to your disability. Examples of retaliation include:

• discrimination,
• wrongful termination,
• harassment,¹⁴
• bullying, and
• reducing your pay below the minimum wage.¹⁵

In any event, do not delay to contact a lawyer. The deadline to file an EEOC complaint can be as short as 180 days or 300 days depending on the case. Usually there is a three-year statute of limitations to file a claim with the CRD.¹⁶

By filing a claim, you may be able to recover monetary penalties and injunctive relief, such as a court order to implement reasonable accommodations.

6. Request Forms

You are advised to use this form created by the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) to request reasonable accommodations from your employer. (¿Habla español? Utilice este formulario.)

If you do not use a form to request reasonable accommodations, you are advised to convey the following information to your employer in your request:

• That you have a disability;
• An explanation of how this disability affects your ability to carry out job duties;
• An explanation of which accommodations are necessary for you to perform the job’s essential duties; and
• A reminder that this information is confidential.

You can make this request orally, though you are advised to put it in writing and to retain a copy for yourself as a record.

Additional Resources

For more information, refer to the following:

• Job Accommodation Network (JAN) – Guidance by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy.
• Reasonable Accommodations in the Workplace – Fact sheet by the ADA National Network.
• Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship under the ADA – Guide by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
• The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) – Disability rights organization providing resources and information.
• National Council on Disability – Federal agency that advises government leaders on disability issues.

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