Human Resource Blog

Michigan ADA

I’ve heard that under federal and Michigan law, employers must make “reasonable accommodations” for disabled employees. What does that mean?

We all remember what it was like before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. In those days, businesses and government agencies had no obligation to make sure that their workplaces were accessible to disabled employees. Even a ramp or a curb could make a building inaccessible. But with the coming of the ADA, employers must make what are called “reasonable accommodations” to assure that disabled workers have access to the workplace.

But what constitutes “reasonable” in the “reasonable accommodation” formula?  There’s no single answer covering all situations. It will vary from one workplace to another, and from one employer to another.The best way to approach the question is through some examples.

Let’s assume you, as an employer, need to install a wheelchair ramp to make your workplace accessible. The cost may be less than $400, clearly a “reasonable accommodation.” But now let’s assume that you rent a 4^th floor office in an ancient city building. Accessibility might require installing an elevator in a building you do not even own, at a cost exceeding $20,000. Courts would be unlikely to deem that expense a “reasonable accommodation.”

The owner of the building, on he other hand, would probably be required to install an elevator when he or she decides to renovate the structure.

Or assume that you own a business with a staff of salespeople. Customarily, your salespeople would drive their own cars to appointments with clients and you would reimburse them for their mileage. Now if you had a salesperson who could not drive because of epilepsy, a “reasonable accommodation” might be to pay him or her the bus or taxi fare to client appointments – even if that exceeded the cost of mileage reimbursement slightly. But hiring a limousine and personal driver to be on call for that worker would obviously not be a “reasonable accommodation.” JH