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Employee Accommodations

Workplace accommodations may include specialized equipment, modifications to the work environment, or adjustments to work schedules or responsibilities. More commonly, this definition has applied to persons with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that employers provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. Barriers have included lack of transportation work workplace not accessible.¹The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion provide examples of reasonable accommodations, but not limited to: 

• Job restructuring such as altering when and/or how an essential function of a job is performed or reallocating job functions that an employee is unable to perform because of a disability.
• Modifying work schedules to allow an employee with a disability to attend to matters related to treating the disability such as medical appointments or medication schedules.
• Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices such as adjusting a desk height for wheelchair users or providing a quadriplegic employee a mouth stick device to type on their computer.
• Adjusting or modifying tests and training materials such as providing materials in alternate formats, such as braille, CD or large print.
• Providing assistive technology or devices such as computer screen readers for employees with visual impairments or a specific telephone that is compatible with an employee’s hearing aid.
• Reassigning an existing employee with a disability to a vacant position for which they are qualified when no longer able to perform the current job with or without accommodations.

To learn more about workforce accommodation, contact the UMMC Human Resource Department (https://intranet.umc.edu/Human_Resources/Human-Resources.html or email WorkAccommodations@umc.edu.

¹ Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion. (2020). Reasonable accommodations.