Disability and Accommodations

Applicants who require an accommodation during the application process should contact Labor and Employe Relations LER - Disability and Accommodation LER and will work with  Employment Services for requests relative to staff positions and with the Office of Faculty Affairs for requests relative to faculty positions.

Current employees who require an accommodation should follow these steps:

1. Communicate the need for an accommodation to your supervisor, appropriate administrator, or LER.
2. Submit the following Reasonable Accommodation Request form to ensure that all necessary information such as the following is provided, including request that are unable to resolve at the departmental level:
   Type of accommodation requested;
   An explanation of the limitation for which the accommodation is needed;
   A description of how the accommodation will allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the position.
   Please note: You are not required to disclose the specific disability/condition, only the functional limitations/restrictions.
3. Once LER - Disability and Accommodation reviews your Reasonable Accommodation Request Form, you will be provided a Medical Provider Verification form  via email from our office for your healthcare provider to complete.
   It provides the following information at a minimum:
   A description of your functional limitation(s) as it/they relate(s) to the essential functions of the position, including the anticipated duration (e.g., whether it is a temporary or a permanent impairment). If temporary, the anticipated date that your functional limitation(s) will end must be provided;
   A description of your functional limitation(s) caused by your disability in work-related terms. For example, if “no prolonged walking” is requested, the medical statement should specify how long or how far you are able to walk; if rest periods are required, the medical statement should specify how often and how long the rest periods should be, etc.; and,
   If alternative or additional medical documentation is provided, the documentation must be dated and written on official letterhead. The treating healthcare professional must be identified and the documentation must be signed by the treating health care professional.
   Note: This form, and any other medical documentation, should be provided directly to a LER - Disability and Accommodation coordinator where it will be kept in a confidential file.
   Actively engage in good faith in an ongoing Interactive Process with your supervisor and/or manager, and a LER - Disability and Accommodation coordinator to discuss and determine the essential functions of your position, the precise job-related limitations, the potential reasonable accommodation(s) that may enable you to perform the essential functions of the position, and to assess the effectiveness of the accommodation(s) provided.
   Note: The University will consider any requests or preferences stated by the employee, but the University retains the ultimate discretion to select the appropriate accommodation(s) based on legitimate business justification, including, but not limited, to cost and campus/workplace impact.
   Notify LER - Disability and Accommodation in the event your situation or circumstances change and you require different or additional accommodation(s).

In assisting employees with the process of requesting a disability-related accommodation, LER - Disability and Accommodation:

1. Receives the your Reasonable Accommodation Request and Medical Provider Verification forms (and/or other accompanying medical documentation from the employee’s healthcare provider);
2. Reviews both forms to determine if you have a qualifying medical condition as defined by the ADA which the University is obligated to attempt to accommodate;
3. Coordinates with your Appropriate Administrator and necessary University personnel to facilitate a good faith Interactive Process with you and the University;
4. Provides, upon request, guidance persons requesting reasonable accommodations on engaging in the Interactive Process;
5. Maintains records related to your disability accommodation in a confidential file which is kept separately from your personnel file.

Applicants who require an accommodation during the application process should contact Labor and Employe Relations [LER] - Disability and Accommodations. LER and  will work with  Employment Services for requests relative to staff positions and with the Office of Faculty Affairs for requests relative to faculty positions.

Current employees who require an accommodation should follow these steps:

1. Communicate the need for an accommodation to their supervisor, appropriate administrator, or LER - Disability and Accommodations.
2. Submit the following two forms to  LER - Disability and Accommodations:
   1. Reasonable Accommodation Request form to ensure that all necessary information such as the following is provided:
      1. Type of accommodation requested;
      2. An explanation of the limitation for which the accommodation is needed;
      3. A description of how the accommodation will allow the employee to perform the essential functions of the position.
         
         Note: The employee is not required to disclose the specific disability/condition, only the functional limitations/restrictions.
   2. Medical Provider Verification form which the employee’s healthcare provider must complete. It provides the following information at a minimum:
      1. A description of the employee’s functional limitation(s) as it/they relate(s) to the essential functions of the position, including the anticipated duration (e.g., whether it is a temporary or a permanent impairment). If temporary, the anticipated date that the employee’s functional limitation(s) will end must be provided;
      2. A description of the employee’s functional limitation(s) caused by their disability in work-related terms. For example, if “no prolonged walking” is requested, the medical statement should specify how long or how far the employee is able to walk; if rest periods are required, the medical statement should specify how often and how long the rest periods should be, etc.; and,
      3. If alternative or additional medical documentation is provided, the documentation must be dated and written on official letterhead. The treating healthcare professional must be identified and the documentation must be signed by the treating health care professional.
         
         Note: This form, and any other medical documentation, should be provided directly to  LER - Disability and Accommodations where it will be kept in a confidential file.
3. Actively engage in good faith in an ongoing Interactive Process with the employee and LER - Disability and Accommodations to discuss and determine the essential functions of the employee’s position, the precise job-related limitations, the potential reasonable accommodation(s) that may enable the employee to perform the essential functions of the position, and to assess the effectiveness of the accommodation(s) provided.
   
   Note: The University will consider any requests or preferences stated by the employee, but the University retains the ultimate discretion to select the appropriate accommodation(s) based on legitimate business justification, including, but not limited, to cost and campus/workplace impact.

In assisting employees with the process of requesting a disability-related accommodation, the ADA Coordinator:

1. Receives the employee’s Reasonable Accommodation Request and Medical Provider Verification forms (and/or other accompanying medical documentation from the employee’s healthcare provider);
2. Reviews both forms to determine if the employee has a qualifying medical condition as defined by the ADA which the University is obligated to attempt to accommodate;
3. Coordinates with your Appropriate Administrator and necessary University personnel to facilitate a good faith Interactive Process with you and the University;
4. Provides, upon request, guidance to managers and supervisors on engaging in the Interactive Process.
5. Maintains records related to an employee’s disability accommodation in a confidential file to be kept separately from the employee’s personnel file.

The purpose of the Interactive Process is to determine whether for employees, who due to a disability have limitations that prevent them from performing the essential functions of their position, reasonable accommodation(s) exist(s) which will allow them to perform those essential functions. The following are the specific questions which the Interactive Process is designed to answer:

• Does the employee have a disability which the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the University to attempt to accommodate? 
• What are the essential, (as opposed to the non-essential) functions of the employee’s position?
• Does the employee have limitations that result from a disability?
  • If so, what are those limitations?
• Do those limitations interfere with the employee’s ability to perform the essential functions of the position?
  • If so, how?
• Is/are there reasonable accommodation(s) which the University can provide which would allow the employee to perform those essential job functions?
  • If so, what is/are that/those accommodation(s)?

• If the employee requests an accommodation, the employee need not use the words, “reasonable accommodation” or “disability accommodation” in the request. If an employee indicates that they have a limitation or restriction, treat it as a request for an accommodation. The request need not be in writing, and it may come from a family member or someone else familiar with the employee.
• If the employee does not request an accommodation, but you have knowledge that would put a reasonable person on notice that the employee needs an accommodation, you must begin the Interactive Process. Contact LER - Disability and Accommodations for further assistance.
• Do not ask for the employee’s medical diagnosis or medical condition. Ask about the employee’s job-related limitations caused by the medical condition.
• You cannot compel an employee to identify an accommodation and cannot impose an accommodation upon an employee even if you believe that the employee needs it.
• The employee and medical provider are to detail the functional limitations that prevent the employee from accomplishing the essential functions of the position, not choose/dictate the accommodation(s).
• The employer (SDSU) is not obligated to provide the employee’s preferred accommodation. The employer may discuss the accommodation with the employee and provide an alternative accommodation that is reasonable, and which allows the employee to perform the essential functions of the position.
• Few jobs, work environments, and/or disabling conditions are entirely static, therefore no grant or denial of an accommodation is permanent. Consequently, the reasonable accommodation and the interactive process obligations of the employer are not satisfied by a one-time participation in the process.
• Both supervisor and employee must continue to be open to engaging in the interactive process by monitoring, reviewing, modifying, or even terminating an accommodation based upon the experience of how it has worked in the past or how it is working in the present in light of changed circumstances either in the workplace and/or with the employee. Each request must be considered on its own merit and within its individual context.
• The Interactive Process must be accomplished in good faith and in a timely manner. Undue delays and obstructions by either the supervisor or the employee are documented by SDSU’s LER - Disability and Accommodations unit for both the manager/supervisor and the employee.

A change to the way work is performed, work environment or application process.

There are different scenarios as to why an accommodation would be needed. The following are examples:

• Upcoming medical procedure with doctor’s recommendation to work from home
• Having mobility issues due to arthritis of the knees and needing to limit walking or standing.
• Having difficulty getting to work at the scheduled starting time because of medical treatments currently undergoing.