New Tool Offers Employers Ideas on Workplace Accommodations

As the nation marks National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a new tool that provides access to more than 700 accommodation ideas for workers with disabilities and their employers.

The Situations and Solutions Finder offers examples of workplace accommodations shared by users of the Job Accommodation Network, a service of the department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. The database draws its examples from organizations large and small, across industries, and from the private and public sectors. The tool allows users to filter and save results by disability, limitation, and/or occupation.

An accommodation is a modification to the work environment or how a job is typically done that enables a qualified person with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled applicants and employees, when requested, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.

“Accommodations are at the heart of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and they’re about maximizing productivity for workers with disabilities, plain and simple,” said Taryn M. Williams, Disability Employment Policy assistant secretary. “By allowing people to learn what has worked for others in similar, even if not exactly the same, situations, this new resource empowers employers, as well as employees or job applicants themselves, to ensure disabled workers have access to what they need to do their best on the job.”

Not all examples of accommodations in the Situations and Solutions Finder may be effective for every person or workplace, as accommodations are unique to everyone, but common patterns exist to assist employers and workers in assessing options.