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Title I of the Americans with
Disabilities Act addresses the rights of individuals with disabilities in
employment settings. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act
Handbook (U.S. Department of Justice, 1991), the purpose of Title I
is to ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities are protected
from discrimination on the basis of disability. As long as the individual
is qualified for an employment opportunity, s/he cannot be denied that
opportunity simply because s/he has a disability, and must therefore be
given the same consideration for employment that individuals without
disabilities are given. Here, we highlight several of the key points
mentioned in Title I of the ADA. For more general information (i.e., who
is considered "disabled" under the ADA, etc.), refer to the
ADA General
Information section of this site.
Title I is enforced by the
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC). Link to
Who Enforces Title I
of the ADA to read more about it.
ADA Title I
Applies To:
- State and Local
Governments
- Legislative and Judicial Branches
of the Federal Government
- Private Employers
- Employment
Agencies
- Labor Unions
- All other settings except those
mentioned below.
ADA Title I
Does NOT Apply To:
- Employers with
fewer than 15 employees:
Here, "employer" refers to the overall
organization.
- Executive Branch of
the Federal Government:
White House and Cabinet offices use
Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act instead of the ADA as a
source of regulations regarding employees with disabilities.
- Private Membership
Clubs: Country Clubs, Lion's Clubs, Jaycees, Elks, etc.
- Churches and
Parochial Schools
- Native American
Reservations
Individuals
with Disabilities Must Be Qualified:
Title I of the ADA protects
individuals with disabilities from discrimination during the hiring
process. However, it does not require employers to hire all
applicants who have disabilities. Under the ADA, job applicants with
disabilities must first:
- Satisfy the required skill,
experience, and education levels required for the position.
- Be able to perform the
"essential job functions" with or without "reasonable accommodations"
(see below).
"Essential
Job Functions" Explained:
- The first step in making
companies ADA compliant is to examine current job descriptions and ascertain
which activities are essential job functions and which are not. The ADA
describes "essential job functions" as the following. A secretarial position
is used to illustrate each point.
- Tasks that are
fundamental and necessary for the position:
e.g., typing
proficiency, telephone skills, etc.
- Does not
include incidental duties:
e.g., making coffee.
- Amount of time
spent on a specific task or duty:
e.g., typing at least 50
words per minute. An employer is not required to hire an individual who
performs an essential task at a significantly slower rate than other
applicants, even if the slower speed at which they perform the task is a
direct result of their disability. As long as applicants without
disabilities are held to the same time standard for a task (e.g., must
be able to type 50 wpm to be considered for a secretarial position),
this is not considered discriminatory under Title I of the ADA.
- What the employer
believes to be an essential job function:
e.g., operating the
copy machine. The employer can set his/her own job standards as long as
these can be verified (e.g., the secretary must be able to operate the
copy machine because s/he frequently is
alone in the office, the office
uses a high volume of photocopies, etc.).
- Duties performed by
past and current workers in the position:
e.g., using specific
computer software, etc. However, instances where past employees have
expanded their job function (i.e., gone beyond what the job description
requires - such as a secretary voluntarily taking notes at meetings,
creating a web page, etc.) are not considered "essential job
functions" under the ADA.
"Reasonable
Accommodations" Explained:
The ADA also stipulates that
employers are responsible for providing necessary accommodations when an
employee declares a disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act
Handbook defines an accommodation as "any change in the work
environment or in the way things are customarily done that enables an
individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities".
This may include:
- Providing or modifying
equipment (e.g., providing a dictation machine instead of a
typewriter)
- Making facilities
accessible - removing barriers (e.g., installing ramps or
elevators)
- Providing readers or
interpreters (e.g., sign language interpreters)
The following are other
examples of accommodations employers might provide. Please note that this
list is not inclusive, and that the best method of identifying needed
accommodations is to ask the individual in question what works best for
him/her.
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The Importance of
"Declaring" the Disability:
An important element of the "reasonable
accommodations" section of the ADA is that 1) the employee has the right
to decide if they want to declare their disability, and 2)
only if they have done so to the appropriate
individual (e.g., their supervisor, the university disability
office, etc. - this varies across settings) is the employer responsible
for providing accommodations. No declaration, no accommodation.
Employers do have the right to ask for appropriate documentary
verification of the disabling condition, such as a doctor's letter (for
physical disabilities) or a psychological assessment report (for learning
disabilities or mental illness). The documentation should include a
description of the disability (the disability does NOT have to be named),
impact on major life activities and recommendations for work related
activities.
"Undue Hardship"
Explained:
- This section of ADA Title I
addresses the common-sense notion that not all accommodations can be
provided in all settings. Here, the law stipulates that an employer is not
required to provide an accommodation that will impose an "undue hardship"
on the operation of the business, where "undue hardship" means significant
difficulty or expense in, or resulting from, the provision of the
accommodation. The following are used to help make this
determination:
- Size of business:
i.e., if smaller than 15 employees, the business is exempt from
the ADA
- Financial
resources/Cost of accommodation:
If the cost of an
accommodation jeopardizes the financial well being of the business then
employer can declare undue hardship. However, before making that
declaration the employer must attempt to locate other funds that would
help provide the accommodations, including the possibility of the person
with the disability contributing financially to the cost of the
accommodation.
- Alteration or
change in the delivery of service:
e.g., an auto manufacturer
would not have to slow down the assembly line to accommodate a
physically-challenged employee's slower pace.
- Disruption of other
workers:
e.g., it would not be against the ADA for an employer
to fire an employee who interacts inappropriately with other workers,
even if such social skill deficits are a direct result of his/her
disabling condition. For example, a mentally challenged male
worker could be fired if he continually makes inappropriate advances
towards his female co-workers, even if his job performance in essential
tasks meets expectations.
Medical
Issues:
- An employer cannot
require a medical examination prior to a job offer to an individual with
a disability.
- A drug test
can be required prior to a job offer (as long as it is
required of all applicants). However, an employer may
not ask applicants/employees about their lawful use of
drugs because this may lead to informational disclosure of their
handicapping condition.
- Health Insurance: An
employer cannot decide not to hire an individual with a disability
because their disability would raise insurance rates. Over the
past ten years, health insurance cost of businesses have been shown not
to rise do to employment of people with disabilities.
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