Finding a job with a disability can be challenging enough. Employers often engage in discriminatory practices that can put these applicants at a disadvantage. Yet, even after a disabled individual secures employment, or he or she becomes disabled after getting a job, employers can wind up treating them unfairly under the law. It can be hard for disabled individuals to push back against their employers, which means that all too often they let violations of their rights under the law slide. This isn’t right, though, which is why we help disabled individuals ensure that they receive the protections to which they are entitled under the law.
One employment protection disabled individuals have is reasonable accommodation. These accommodations should make your job easier and ensure equal employment opportunities. There are numerous adjustments and modifications that fall into the reasonable accommodation category, but you need to know the limitations of the law so that you can prepare to push back against an employer who is hesitant or unwilling to comply with accommodation requests.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers can refuse to provide accommodations to a disabled individual if doing so would cause the employer undue hardship. What constitutes undue hardship? There’s no one defining characteristic, but should the matter wind up in court a number of factors would be considered. Amongst those factors are the cost of the accommodation, the employer’s financial ability to cover that cost, and the impact that the accommodation will have on the employer’s operations.
These factors leave a lot of room for an employer to argue against giving you reasonable accommodation, which very well could threaten your job. Therefore, you need to know how this aspect of the law is assessed and applied so that you can develop a legal strategy that protects your rights and your financial wellbeing as fully as possible under the circumstances.