15 ADA(Americans with Disabilities Act) Facts
Individuals with disabilities fought for years against exclusion and segregation. Many still face these struggles especially as it relates to employment (ADA Title 1). Like other movements in history, the fight for equality was tough.
It started long ago when parents started to advocate for their disabled children, and local clubs and associations started to fight for the rights of people with disabilities in their neighborhoods and communities. This fight; like other civil rights fights, involved organizing, protesting, speaking out to the public, lobbying, filing lawsuits, and even being arrested.
On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. The law prohibits discrimination in employment, services, state programs, government programs, and state and government services. The ADA is an equal opportunity law for people with disabilities.
Here are 15 ADA Facts to get people with disabilities/ employers/ businesses familiar with ADA rights/ compliance/ obligations:
1.) The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications.
As an individual with a disability, your rights are protected in EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, AND HOUSING.
2.) The ADA prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in: job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment.
- It is ILLEGAL to be discriminated against because you are disabled.
- You cannot be paid less because you are disabled.
- If you ask for an accommodation to apply for the job- you have the right to ask for it without retaliation.
- Retaliation is ILLEGAL.
- YOU HAVE THE RIGHT to advise of your need for an accommodation due to a disability.
- You DO NOT have to provide details of your disability, i.e.: your diagnoses.
- The law DOES NOT support unfair treatment.
3.) An individual with a disability is a person who has a record of or is regarded as having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
- The law does NOT exclude invisible disabilities.
- An individual with a disability is a person who has a record of or is regarded as having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
- The law does NOT exclude invisible disabilities.
4.) ADA defines a qualified employee or applicant as an individual who, WITH or WITHOUT reasonable accommodations, can perform the ESSENTIAL functions of the job.
- Essential functions are the FUNDAMENTAL not marginal job duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.
- Marginal job duties are not unessential to the work unit, only to a given job. The function must be accomplished; however, it can be done by another employee or position.
Example situation and solution:
A firm has two document processing clerks. Computer work is an essential function, using the phone is a marginal one. If a qualified document processing clerk had a speech impairment, it would be reasonable to assign the function of using the phone to the employee without a speech impairment in exchange for doing that employee’s filing.
5.) Factors considered in determining if a function is essential:
- Whether the reason the position exists is to perform that function.
- The number of other employees available to perform the function or who the performance of the function can be distributed to.
- The degree of expertise or skill required to perform the function.
6.) An employer is required to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. Such accommodations may include but are not limited to making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible, job restructuring, modifying work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials or policies, and providing qualified readers or interpreters.
Sample ADA Accommodation:
A firm has two document processing clerks. Computer work is an essential function, using the phone is a marginal one. If a qualified document processing clerk had a speech impairment, it would be reasonable to assign the function of using the phone to the employee without a speech impairment in exchange for doing that employee’s filing.
7.) Employers cannot ask medical or disability-related questions on a job application/interview. The exception is that a government agency can ask an applicant to voluntarily disclose a disability for affirmative action purposes.
This goes into the same “not allowed” bucket as asking about children, marriage, and religion; it’s illegal.
8.) An employer is required to make an accommodation to the known disability of a qualified applicant or employee if it would not impose an “undue hardship” on the operation of the employer’s business.
Undue hardship is defined as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of factors such as the nature and expense of the accommodation needed, an employer’s size, financial resources and the type and structure of an employer’s operation.
Employer PREFERENCE is NOT a factor. What your employer prefers has no place in the law. The law is concerned with reasonable and hardship.
9.) The ADA does NOT force employers to hire individuals with disabilities and does not give hiring preference to persons with disabilities.
The ADA PROHIBITS DISCRIMINATION on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications.
10.) Businesses with fewer than 15 employees are not covered by the employment provisions of the ADA.
11.) Veterans with disabilities are protected by USERRA & Title I of the ADA — Both
USERRA has requirements for reemploying veterans with & without service-connected disabilities and is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Justice.
You have the right to be reemployed in your civilian job if you leave that job to perform service in the uniformed service- meeting the below requirements:
- You give your employer advance written or verbal notice of your service.
- You have 5 years or less of cumulative service in the uniformed services while with that particular employer.
- You return to work or apply for reemployment in a timely manner after conclusion of service.
- You have not been separated from service w/ a disqualifying discharge or under other than honorable conditions. If you are eligible to be reemployed, you must be restored to the job and benefits you would have attained if you had not been absent due to military service or, in some cases, a comparable job.
12.) Employers have to make non-work areas used by employees, such as cafeterias, lounges, or employer-provided transportation, accessible to people with disabilities.
13.) The ADA makes it unlawful to discriminate against an individual because of a relationship or association with an individual with a known disability.
Example: You cannot be discriminated against because your husband/wife/significant other, etc., is disabled. It is illegal.
14.) The ADA requires that an employer provide employees with disabilities equal access to whatever health insurance coverage is offered to other employees.
15.) An employer cannot make up the cost of providing a reasonable accommodation by lowering your salary or paying you less than other employees in similar positions.
(Content originally published on LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/in/vee-traveling-vegan-writer/ #15daysofada)
