CHECKLIST: JOB ACCOMMODATION STEPS 

When considering accommodations for someone who has a disability, an employer must conduct a case-by-case analysis with input from the person who has a disability. To more readily identify potential accommodations, the Job Accommodation Network advises employers to engage in the following ten-step analysis. 

• Define the problem. Consider the individual's specific symptoms and limitations that are creating barriers to performing job tasks? Be specific. Remember that different impairments, and even different individuals with the same impairment, may have different limitations.
• Determine whether it is helpful and feasible to modify the job. If it is, revise the job description. Job modifications may include a shift change, a schedule change, a flexible work schedule, the option to work at home, or even sharing or trading job duties with another employee. Job restructuring of marginal duties may also be included.
• Determine whether it is helpful and feasible to modify the existing facility. If it is, modify the facility. This may include, for example, installing a fire alarm strobe with a flashing light for someone with no hearing or installing a ramp for someone with a mobility impairment to access an area where only steps are provided. Other potential modifications include providing an accessible parking space to someone who easily fatigues or replacing doorknobs with door levers for individuals with limited grasping ability.
• Consider whether a product or service exist that would feasibly solve the problem. If yes, obtain the product or service. Some products may be specifically designed and intended to accommodate individuals who have disabilities while others were not designed specifically for that purpose, but work nonetheless. The purchase of a service may also be a form of accommodation. This may include an interpreter for an individual with a hearing impairment or a reader for someone with a vision impairment.
• Determine whether it is helpful and feasible to use or combine available products differently than they are already used. If it is, use and integrate the product. This step of the process requires the accommodation seeker to consider products for uses in which they were not necessarily intended. For example, amplified stethoscopes were designed to assist nurses and doctors in noisy areas like an emergency room or on the site of an accident. However, these same amplified stethoscopes have also proven helpful to nurses and doctors with hearing loss in controlled noise environments.
• Determine whether it is helpful and feasible to modify the product. If yes, modify the product. Employers can often modify existing products in house. However, at times it may be necessary to call a professional such as a rehabilitation engineer, an electrician, a computer specialist, or the manufacturer of the product.
• Determine whether it is helpful and feasible to design a new product. If yes, design the new product. This step may require the assistance of a professional such as a rehabilitation engineer, a computer specialist, or a company willing to design a new product.
• Consider whether there are alternative placement possibilities. If there are, reassign the employee to an available position. Reassignment may need to be considered as a reasonable accommodation. Reassignment should not be used to limit, segregate or discriminate. Reassignment to a lateral position should only be considered if accommodations are not possible for the current position, accommodation for the current position would cause an undue hardship, or the employer and employee agree that reassignment is the more appropriate accommodation.
• Redefine the situation. If at the end of the accommodation process an accommodation has not been identified, then an accommodation option may have been overlooked. At this point, redefine the situation and assemble an accommodation team. An accommodation team may consist of medical specialists such as doctors, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, or pharmacists. The team may also include rehabilitation counselors/engineers and/or an organization that serves people with disabilities.
• Maintain accommodations. Once an accommodation has been identified and provided, it is important to maintain it. Keep effective avenues of communication open with the employee, and be aware of any changes in the employee's condition or the employee's work environment that may affect the sufficiency of the existing

Reprinted with permission. © CCH