The ADA allows employers to hold all employees to the same workplace
productivity standards, as long as these standards are a fair measure of the
core functions of the job. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against
qualified individuals with a disability:
The term “qualified individual with a disability” means an individual with
a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can
perform the essential functions of the employment position that such
individual holds or desires.… Consideration shall be given to the
employer’s judgment as to what functions of a job are essential, and if
an employer has prepared a written description before advertising or
interviewing applicants for the job, this description shall be considered
evidence of the essential functions of the job.
The term “reasonable accommodation” may include the following:
making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and
usable by individuals with disabilities; and
job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to
a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices,
appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations, training
materials or policies, the provision of qualified readers or interpreters,
and other similar accommodations for individuals with disabilities.
The occupational medicine physician, in consultation with appropriate experts
and the employee, determines the appropriate accommodation. The employer
must then decide if the person is otherwise qualified. Can the employee do the
job with the accommodation, and is the accommodation reasonable? These
decisions are legally contentious because they reflect economic and policy
questions about the workplace. For example, is it reasonable to employ a sign-
language interpreter for a manual laborer when the cost of the interpreter may
double the cost of employing the laborer? Although the employer may consult
with the occupational medicine physician about the accommodation, the
physician should avoid making the determination of reasonability. Making such
decisions will impair the neutrality that the ADA seeks to preserve for the
examining physician.
