Work At Home/Telework
as a Reasonable Accommodation
The following is a White paper prepared by the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC):
Many employers have discovered the benefits of allowing employees to work
at home through telework (also known as telecommuting) programs. Telework
has allowed employers to attract and retain valuable workers by boosting
employee morale and productivity. Technological advancements have also helped
increase telework options. President George W. Bush's New Freedom Initiative
emphasizes the important role telework can have for expanding employment
opportunities for persons with disabilities.
In its 1999 Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (revised 10/17/02), the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission said that allowing an individual with
a disability to work at home may be a form of reasonable accommodation.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers with 15 or
more employees to provide reasonable accommodation for qualified applicants
and employees with disabilities. Reasonable accommodation is any change
in the work environment or in the way things are customarily done that enables
an individual with a disability to apply for a job, perform a job, or gain
equal access to the benefits and privileges of a job. The ADA does not require
an employer to provide a specific accommodation if it causes undue hardship,
i.e., significant difficulty or expense.
Not all persons with disabilities need - or want - to work at home. And
not all jobs can be performed at home. But, allowing an employee to work
at home may be a reasonable accommodation where the person's disability
prevents successfully performing the job on-site and the job, or parts of
the job, can be performed at home without causing significant difficulty
or expense.
This fact sheet explains the ways that employers may use existing telework
programs or allow an individual to work at home as a reasonable accommodation.
1. Does the ADA require employers to have telework programs?
No. The ADA does not require an employer to offer a telework program to
all employees. However, if an employer does offer telework, it must allow
employees with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in such
a program.
In addition, the ADA's reasonable accommodation obligation, which includes
modifying workplace policies, might require an employer to waive certain
eligibility requirements or otherwise modify its telework program for someone
with a disability who needs to work at home. For example, an employer may
generally require that employees work at least one year before they are
eligible to participate in a telework program. If a new employee needs to
work at home because of a disability, and the job can be performed at home,
then an employer may have to waive its one-year rule for this individual.
2. May permitting an employee to work at home be a reasonable
accommodation, even if the employer has no telework program?
Yes. Changing the location where work is performed may fall under the ADA's
reasonable accommodation requirement of modifying workplace policies, even
if the employer does not allow other employees to telework. However, an
employer is not obligated to adopt an employee's preferred or requested
accommodation and may instead offer alternate accommodations as long as
they would be effective. (See Question 6.)
3. How should an employer determine whether someone may need
to work at home as a reasonable accommodation?
This determination should be made through a flexible "interactive process"
between the employer and the individual. The process begins with a request.
An individual must first inform the employer that s/he has a medical condition
that requires some change in the way a job is performed. The individual
does not need to use special words, such as "ADA" or "reasonable
accommodation" to make this request, but must let the employer know
that a medical condition interferes with his/her ability to do the job.
Then, the employer and the individual need to discuss the person's request
so that the employer understands why the disability might necessitate the
individual working at home. The individual must explain what limitations
from the disability make it difficult to do the job in the workplace, and
how the job could still be performed from the employee's home. The employer
may request information about the individual's medical condition (including
reasonable documentation) if it is unclear whether it is a "disability"
as defined by the ADA. The employer and employee may wish to discuss other
types of accommodations that would allow the person to remain full-time
in the workplace. However, in some situations, working at home may be the
only effective option for an employee with a disability.
4. How should an employer determine whether a particular job
can be performed at home?
An employer and employee first need to identify and review all of the essential
job functions. The essential functions or duties are those tasks that are
fundamental to performing a specific job. An employer does not have to remove
any essential job duties to permit an employee to work at home.
However, it may need to reassign some minor job duties or marginal functions
(i.e., those that are not essential to the successful performance of a job)
if they cannot be performed outside the workplace and they are the only
obstacle to permitting an employee to work at home. If a marginal function
needs to be reassigned, an employer may substitute another minor task that
the employee with a disability could perform at home in order to keep employee
workloads evenly distributed.
After determining what functions are essential, the employer and the individual
with a disability should determine whether some or all of the functions
can be performed at home. For some jobs, the essential duties can only be
performed in the workplace. For example, food servers, cashiers, and truck
drivers cannot perform their essential duties from home. But, in many other
jobs some or all of the duties can be performed at home.
Several factors should be considered in determining the feasibility of working
at home, including the employer's ability to supervise the employee adequately
and whether any duties require use of certain equipment or tools that cannot
be replicated at home. Other critical considerations include whether there
is a need for face-to-face interaction and coordination of work with other
employees; whether in-person interaction with outside colleagues, clients,
or customers is necessary; and whether the position in question requires
the employee to have immediate access to documents or other information
located only in the workplace. An employer should not, however, deny a request
to work at home as a reasonable accommodation solely because a job involves
some contact and coordination with other employees. Frequently, meetings
can be conducted effectively by telephone and information can be exchanged
quickly through e-mail.
If the employer determines that some job duties must be performed in the
workplace, then the employer and employee need to decide whether working
part-time at home and part-time in the workplace will meet both of their
needs. For example, an employee may need to meet face-to-face with clients
as part of a job, but other tasks may involve reviewing documents and writing
reports. Clearly, the meetings must be done in the workplace, but the employee
may be able to review documents and write reports from home.
5. How frequently may someone with a disability work at home
as a reasonable accommodation?
An employee may work at home only to the extent that his/her disability
necessitates it. For some people, that may mean one day a week, two half-days,
or every day for a particular period of time (e.g., for three months while
an employee recovers from treatment or surgery related to a disability).
In other instances, the nature of a disability may make it difficult to
predict precisely when it will be necessary for an employee to work at home.
For example, sometimes the effects of a disability become particularly severe
on a periodic but irregular basis. When these flare-ups occur, they sometimes
prevent an individual from getting to the workplace. In these instances,
an employee might need to work at home on an "as needed" basis,
if this can be done without undue hardship.
As part of the interactive process, the employer should discuss with the
individual whether the disability necessitates working at home full-time
or part-time. (A few individuals may only be able to perform their jobs
successfully by working at home full time.) If the disability necessitates
working at home part-time, then the employer and employee should develop
a schedule that meets both of their needs. Both the employer and the employee
should be flexible in working out a schedule so that work is done in a timely
way, since an employer does not have to lower production standards for individuals
with disabilities who are working at home. The employer and employee also
need to discuss how the employee will be supervised.
6. May an employer make accommodations that enable an employee
to work full-time in the workplace rather than granting a request to work
at home?
Yes, the employer may select any effective accommodation, even if it is
not the one preferred by the employee. Reasonable accommodations include
adjustments or changes to the workplace, such as: providing devices or modifying
equipment, making workplaces accessible (e.g., installing a ramp), restructuring
jobs, modifying work schedules and policies, and providing qualified readers
or sign language interpreters. An employer can provide any of these types
of reasonable accommodations, or a combination of them, to permit an employee
to remain in the workplace. For example, an employee with a disability who
needs to use paratransit asks to work at home because the paratransit schedule
does not permit the employee to arrive before 10:00 a.m., two hours after
the normal starting time. An employer may allow the employee to begin his
or her eight-hour shift at 10:00 a.m., rather than granting the request
to work at home, if this would work with the paratransit schedule.
7. How can employers and individuals with disabilities learn
more about reasonable accommodation, including working at home?
Employers and individuals with disabilities wishing to learn more about
working at home as a reasonable accommodation can contact the EEOC at (202)
663-4691 (voice) and (202) 663-7026 (TTY). General information about reasonable
accommodation can be found on EEOC's website, www.eeoc.gov/policy/guidance.html
(Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under
the Americans with Disabilities Act; revised 10/17/02). This website also
provides guidances on many other aspects of the ADA.
The government-funded Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is a free service
that offers employers and individuals ideas about effective accommodations.
The counselors perform individualized searches for workplace accommodations
based on a job's functional requirements, the functional limitations of
Work At Home/Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation. |