Americans with Disabilities Act: Employment Rights Explained

Introduction to the ADA and Its Employment Scope

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. In principle, the ADA provides employment rights and protections similar to those afforded to individuals by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in connection with race, religion, or ethnicity (Dershowitz, 2002). Title I of the ADA pertains to private employers, employment agencies, labor unions, and state, local, and federal government employment, and specifically prohibits discrimination in the workplace against qualified persons (Hall, 1992).

According to Title I of the ADA, employers of more than fifteen employees may not discriminate against persons with disabilities in any aspect of the vocational realm, including job application procedures, hiring, firing, compensation, benefits, advancement and promotion, training, and any other element of the conditions or privileges of employment (Halbert & Ingulli, 2008).

Specific Requirements of the ADA

Under the ADA, "disability" for the purposes of anti-discrimination is defined as: (1) any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits any major life activity; (2) any record of such an impairment; and (3) any perception that a person suffers from an impairment. Furthermore, the ADA prohibits such discrimination provided that the job applicant or employee is capable of performing all of the essential job functions of a position with reasonable accommodations made necessary by a recognized disability (Halbert & Ingulli, 2008).

The actual degree of accommodations required by Title I depends on the size and available resources of the employer (Friedman, 2005). Generally, employers must make facilities normally used by employees readily accessible to disabled persons in a manner that allows them to use those facilities. Title I also requires that positions and work schedules be modified, and that vacancies and reassignment be used to facilitate the hiring and continued employment of qualified disabled persons.

Types of Reasonable Accommodations

Reasonable accommodations include adapting existing equipment or acquiring devices necessitated by the disability, as well as the adaptation of tests, methods of evaluating work performance, training procedures, materials, and policies — all as necessary to create a workplace reasonably suited to persons with disabilities. Title I also requires the employer to provide interpreters or readers where doing so is necessary for disabled persons capable of performing all job functions with such accommodations (Halbert & Ingulli, 2008).

Examples of the types of accommodations required to comply with the ADA include: wheelchair-accessible entrances, elevators, and bathroom facilities; readers for blind employees; interpreters for deaf employees; regular break schedules for employees with conditions that require periodic testing or medication administration (such as diabetes); and excused absences from the workplace necessitated by medical procedures or treatments related to the employee's disability (Friedman, 2005).

References

Dershowitz, A. M. (2002). Shouting fire: Civil liberties in a turbulent age. Little Brown.

Friedman, L. M. (2005). A history of American law. Touchstone.

Halbert, T., & Ingulli, E. (2008). Law & ethics in the business environment. West Legal Studies.

Hall, K. (Ed.). (1992). The Oxford companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. Oxford University Press.

Weaver, G. R. (2004). Ethics and employees: Making the connection. Academy of Management Perspective, 18(2), 121–125.