americans with disabilities act ui100: first-year seminar information taken from jobweb.com

Americans with Disabilities Act

UI100: First-Year SeminarInformation taken from jobweb.com


The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is something you should all be aware of in the workplace.

What is the ADA?


ADA is a federal law that was passed in 1990 by President Bush.

ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against disabled individuals in employment, public accommodations, public services and telecommunications.


The ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedureshiringpromotionsdismissalscompensation job training



What is a disability?


A disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits an individual’s major life activities.

ADA not only covers discernible disabilities such as impaired sight or hearing, or muscular or neurological disorders, but less obvious impairments such as cancer, emotional disturbances, or learning disabilities.



The law also protects individuals who have the AIDS virus and it offers the same protection to recovered alcoholics and recovered drug addicts.


The ADA does NOT cover occasional or chronic alcoholics or illegal drug users.


ADA does NOT cover temporary conditions such as a broken leg or sprained wrist.


The law states that an employer cannot discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability.

A person is a qualified individual if he/she can perform the essential functions of the job with

or without a reasonable accommodation ANDMeet your employer’s objective requirements

for the job, such as field of study, technical skills, and GPA.



It is NOT the employer’s responsibility to make you qualified for the job; nor is it the employer’s responsibility to change the job requirements to fit your individual qualifications.


The ADA is not a guarantee of a job. It levels the playing field so that you’re

judged on your job-related abilities.


The guiding principle behind the ADA is that the focus should be on the

job seeker’s abilities, not his or her disabilities.


An employer must make reasonable accommodations in the recruitment process or to the job itself for a qualified individual with a disability.

Reasonable Accommodations:“Accommodations that do not impose undue

hardship on the employer.”An accommodation that causes the employer

significant expense or difficulty is considered an undue hardship under the ADA.



What is considered a significant expense for one company may not be for another.For example: Providing $12,000 adaptive

equipment for computer use might be reasonable for a large corporation but unreasonable for a small business.

Employers can ask you about your ability to perform job-related functions, but they can’t ask you if you need accommodation to do a particular job or what type of accommodation you might need to do the work.


The whole issue of when you should discuss accommodations to the job is tricky, and ultimately the decision is yours to decide.


americans with disabilities act ui100: first-year seminar information taken from jobweb.com

Documents

disabilities act slide

disabilities act ada

disabilities act ui100

discernible disabilities

job requirements

qualified individuals

reasonable accommodations

job seekers abilities