ADA FAQs by:Mark Dacanay
The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) was signed into law in the 1990s and was
designed to protect people with disabilities from discrimination in the workplace.
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about ADA.
What is ADA?
The ADA or the Americans with Disability Act is a law which protects qualified workers from being discriminated as a result of their disability by private employers, state/local government, labor unions, employment agencies and others. The law covers all employers with 15 or more employees.
How do you define if a person has a disability?
A person is considered to have disability if he/she has a physical or mental injury that limits his major activities.
These major activities may include the following:
Walking
Hearing
Seeing
Speaking
Breathing
Performing manual tasks
Learning
That person should have a record of such injury like a doctor's report and should be regarded as having said injury.
How do you define a "qualified individual with disability"?
This refers to a person that has a disability who has legitimate skills, education and experience or any other requirements that is essential for the position he/she is pursuing with or without reasonable accommodation.
A person who has a disability can be assured that he/she is not disqualified as long as they can perform the "essential functions" of the position regardless if they cannot perform other marginal tasks.
If said individual is qualified except for limitations caused by that person's disability, the employer could consider if said applicant can perform the functions with some reasonable accommodations.
Do the employers have to give preference to disabled applicants/employees?
Not at all. An employer should be free to choose the most qualified person for the position regardless if that applicant has a disability or none.
In the same regard, employers should hold employees with disabilities at the same standards as the other employees.
What defines reasonable accommodation?
This refers to any modification or adjustment to the job or the work environment to allow individuals with disabilities to apply or later on, to perform job functions.
Reasonable Accommodation also includes adjustments made so that the person with disability will have equal rights and benefits as that of other employees.
Here are some of the reasonable accommodations an employer can provide:
Modifying facilities to be accessible to all people including individuals with disability
Adjusting work schedules
Restructuring a job
Acquiring equipment
Providing readers and/or interpreters
Appropriate adjustments to examinations, trainings and others
Are there limitations to the obligation of employers to provide reasonable accommodation?
Yes there are. First, the individual must be a qualified person with disability and the employer must also be informed of the disability.
Second, the employer is not required to provide accommodations if it would impose "undue hardships" to the business operations.
Undue hardships refers to actions that requires significant difficulty or/and expenses. This is based on a number of factors that determines the nature and cost of the accommodation with regard to the size, resources and other factors of the business operations.
Undue hardships are determined in a case to case basis.
Can an employer consider health/safety in retaining/hiring an individual with disability?
Yes. The law allows employers to establish standards that will exclude people who pose a direct threat to the health and safety of the said individual and others despite reasonable accommodations.
In this regard, the employer cannot just assume threat but he/she should establish that there is a significant risk in the workplace through a thorough, objective, and medically supported methods.
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