Your Right to Reasonable Accommodation

Any employee with a disability has the right to request reasonable accommodation in connection with his or her job. Any applicant for employment also has the right to reasonable accommodation in conjunction with application procedures and accessibility issues. The Federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the Illinois Human Rights Act prohibit job discrimination based on disability and require an employer to reasonably accommodate the functional limitations of otherwise qualified applicants and employees with disabilities. A variety of physical or mental disabilities that "substantially limit a major life activity" are covered by these laws.

"Reasonable accommodation" means a modification to job site, job schedule, or job process that would enable a person with a disability to perform a given position. The reasonable accommodation requirement is broad, and different accommodations may be needed for different individuals, different disabilities, and different jobs. Examples of accommodations include provision of equipment, modified work schedules, physical modification of the work site, job restructuring (which means reassignment of non-essential job duties), and provision of readers or interpreters. An example of an accommodation for a job applicant is a sign language interpreter for a job interview. Employers are not required to provide accommodations when they would impose "undue hardship" on the operation of business. "Undue hardship" is a flexible concept that includes consideration of the number of people employed and the cost of the accommodation.

Although procedures differ among various employers, every Illinois employer is required to provide reasonable accommodation. If you need accommodation of some sort, it is your duty to request it. You can initiate a request with the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Officer or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator (note that not all employers have these positions), or personnel officer. The EEO Officer or ADA Coordinator or personnel officer should be able to explain the employer's procedure to you.

This information was provided as a public service by the Interagency Committee on Employees with Disabilities (ICED). The Committee can be reached through the Illinios Department of Human Rights (IDHR) via the website or contact information noted above.​