Rights and Responsibilities

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that makes it illegal for covered employers to discriminate against (to treat unfairly or unequally) people with disabilities. This includes all areas of employment, such as interviewing, hiring, firing, training, promotions, and benefits. Covered employers are also required by law to give you reasonable accommodations if you need them to be successful at your job. A covered employer is an employer with 15 or more employees.

Requesting Accommodations

To request an accommodation, you’ll need to take a few steps:

1. You need to disclose your disability to your employer. You disclose your disability when you let your employer know that you have a disability. You need to disclose this information to your human resources manager or your supervisor. You don’t need to disclose your disability to anybody else in the workplace.
2. You can disclose your disability and request your accommodation in person, in writing, or both. To do it in writing can be as simple as sending an email to the appropriate person. You don’t have to write a long, formal letter. It’s a good idea to request your accommodation in writing, because if your accommodation request is denied or delayed, you’ll have a written record showing what you requested and when you did so.
3. Give ideas for accommodations. Your employer may have other ideas as well. Your employer must offer reasonable accommodations, but not necessarily give you the specific accommodations you request if there are other more convenient or less expensive accommodations that will work.

You can learn more detailed information about accommodations in the DB101 article on Job Supports and Accommodations. The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) also has a lot of information about what types of accommodations exist and how to request them.

Self-Advocacy

When you get a job, you are the person who is most responsible for making sure your job goes well and, if it is not going well, for asking your employer for accommodations or assistance. Your employer is responsible for making sure to follow the ADA, so if there is a problem, you should usually start with asking your employer for accommodations or assistance. If you believe that a coworker or supervisor is not respecting your rights, you need to make sure your rights are respected by reporting concerns to your employer. Making sure your rights are respected is also called self-advocacy.

Self-advocacy doesn’t actually mean you have to do everything by yourself. Your family and friends can give you support. At some large companies, there may even be organized groups of disabled employees.

Legal Resources

• The U.S. Department of Justice has a comprehensive site on ADA resources.
• The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has a fact sheet on employment rights of individuals with disabilities and a page for youth about employment discrimination.