ENFORCEMENT GUIDANCE: DISABILITY-RELATED INQUIRIES AND MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS OF EMPLOYEES UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA)

Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the ''ADA'') limits an employer's ability to make disability-related inquiries or require medical examinations at three stages: pre-offer, post-offer, and during employment. In its guidance on preemployment disability-related inquiries and medical examinations, the Commission addressed the ADA's restrictions on disability-related inquiries and medical examinations at the pre- and post-offer stages. This enforcement guidance focuses on the ADA's limitations on disability-related inquiries and medical examinations during employment. Disability-related inquiries and medical examinations of employees must be ''job-related and consistent with business necessity.'' This guidance gives examples of the kinds of questions that are and are not ''disability-related'' and examples of tests and procedures that generally are and are not ''medical.'' The guidance also defines what the term ''job-related and consistent with business necessity'' means and addresses situations in which an employer would meet the general standard for asking an employee a disability-related question or requiring a medical examination. Other acceptable inquiries and examinations of employees, such as inquiries and examinations required by federal law and those that are part of voluntary wellness and health screening programs, as well as invitations to voluntarily self-identify as persons with disabilities for affirmative action purposes, also are addressed.