Analyzing The Accommodation Request

When a reasonable accommodation becomes necessary for a qualified individual with a disability, the following steps should be taken: After analyzing the job and assessing its essential functions, the employer must Confer with the individual with a disability and ascertain: - His or her job-related limitations; and - How a reasonable accommodation would lessen those limitations. - Identify reasonable accommodations and assess the cost and effectiveness of each. - Determine which reasonable accommodations would create an undue hardship. - Ask the individual with a disability his or her preference for a reasonable accommodation. - If the only reasonable accommodation available would create an undue hardship, determine whether financial assistance is available. - If financial assistance is not available, and there is no other reasonable accommodation, offer the individual with a disability the opportunity to pay for that portion of the accommodation which would create an undue hardship. - Select the accommodation which is most appropriate for both the employer and the disabled applicant or employee. (Note: It is the employer's right to select among alternative accommodations, but the preference of the qualified individual with a disability should be weighed carefully.)