When an employee requests leave as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA because of an occupational injury, may an employer provide an accommodation that requires remaining on the job instead?

When an employee requests leave as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA because of a disability-related occupational injury, may an employer provide an accommodation that requires him/her to remain on the job instead? Yes. An employer need not provide an employee's preferred accommodation as long as the employer provides an effective accommodation -- one that is sufficient to meet the employee's job-related needs. Accordingly, an employer may provide a reasonable accommodation that requires an employee to remain on the job, in lieu of providing leave (e.g., reallocating marginal functions, or providing temporary reassignment). The employer is obligated, however, to restore the employee's full duties or to return the employee to his/her original position once s/he has recovered sufficiently to perform its essential functions, with or without a reasonable accommodation. However, if an employee with a disability-related occupational injury does not request a reasonable accommodation, but simply requests leave that is routinely granted to other employees (e.g., accrued paid leave or leave without pay), an employer may not require him/her to remain on the job with some type of adjustment unless it also requires employees without disabilities who request such leave to remain on the job with some type of adjustment.