Who bears the responsibility between the employee and the employer to request an accommodation under the ADA?
Employee or Employer?
Generally, the individual with the disability is responsible to inform the employer that an accommodation is needed and make a request for an accommodation. However, if an employer is aware that an employee has a disability or knows, or should know, that an employee is experiencing problems because of the disability, the employer should initiate the reasonable accommodation interactive process. The interactive process is a way of communication between the employee and the employer to ensure that the employer can provide reasonable accommodations to the employee with the disability. The interactive process requires employers to:
analyze job functions to establish the essential and nonessential job tasks,
identify the barriers to job performance by consulting with the employee to learn the employee’s precise limitations, and
explore the types of accommodations that would be most effective.
Employers can demonstrate a good faith attempt to accommodate by meeting with the employee, requesting information about the limitations, considering the employee’s requests, and discussing alternatives if a request is burdensome. Because the interactive process imposes mutual obligations on employers and employees, an employer cannot be liable for failure to accommodate if a breakdown in that process is attributable to the employee.
