3040 Reasonable Accommodations in Employment

Initial Date of Approval: 7/20/11

Revision Date(s):

Administrative Responsibility: Vice President of Human Resources

PURPOSE

Persons with disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation in all aspects of employment including but not limited to: application; recruitment; selection/hiring; promotion; testing; medical examinations; layoff/recall; assignments; termination; evaluation; compensation; disciplinary actions; leave; training; the terms, conditions and benefits of employment including insurance benefits; and employer supported activities.

REFERENCES

• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008
• Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as Amended
• Architectural Barriers Act
• Collective Bargaining Agreements
• Washington State Executive Order 93-03

POLICY

It is the policy of the college to provide reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities and to comply in good faith with the requirements of applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

PROCEDURES

I. RESPONSIBILITIES/RIGHTS

1. Responsibilities/Rights of Employees/Applicants
   • It is the obligation of an individual with a disability to request a reasonable accommodation and to provide information/documentation from a health care professional to verify the disability and make decisions regarding reasonable accommodation. This documentation must include a description of the nature and extent of the disability and must explain how the disability limits their performance.
   • A qualified individual with a disability has the right to refuse an accommodation; however, if after refusing the accommodation the essential elements cannot be performed, the individual will not be considered qualified.
   • In a situation where the college is attempting to accommodate or assist the employee in applying for other positions the employee is responsible for: providing current information showing skills, abilities, training, and experience; identifying the types of jobs s/he is interested in and qualified for; applying for vacant positions; and advising the college of any change of address/phone number.
2. Responsibilities/Rights of Skagit Valley College
   • The college must provide reasonable accommodation to the known physical, mental or sensory limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability. This is an ongoing responsibility, which applies to all aspects of employment. This includes:
     • Selection, selection for promotion, training, traveling, participation in projects and committees, developmental work assignments or any opportunity which may have an impact on an employee’s career development;
     • Opportunities to enjoy all employer supported social or recreational activities;
     • Timelines for all activities and opportunities which allow an employee to enjoy equal terms, benefits, privileges and conditions of employment;
     • Information regarding benefits privileges, and conditions of employment must be provided in a format, which is readily accessible to the disabled employee.
3. Information regarding the presence or nature of an employee’s or applicant’s disability must be treated as a confidential medical record and shall be maintained in a secure manner with access restricted to designated personnel on a need-to-know basis; these records will be kept separate from personnel files.
4. Employees will be notified of the college’s obligation to provide reasonable accommodations and be instructed as to how to initiate such a request.
5. The institution may request verification from the employee’s or applicant’s health care provider when an applicant/employee requests a reasonable accommodation when a disability is not readily apparent and has not been previously documented. The college may obtain a second opinion at its own expense from a health care provider of its selection. Such inquiries must be limited to verification of the employee’s/applicant’s claims, except that the college may also request suggestions for alternative accommodations.
6. Notification of the right to make an accommodation request and information on how to initiate such a request must be included with all position announcements and bulletins. The college will respond to such requests in a timely way.
7. Qualification standards, employment tests or other selection criteria must not screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability unless they are job related and necessary for the employer. Employment tests must accurately reflect skills, aptitude, or other factors being measured and not the impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills of an employee or applicant with a disability unless those are the skills the test is designed to measure.
8. The Human Resources Office is the designated contact point for information about job openings and the application process. The Human Resource Office staff have the authority to initiate the college’s process for the provision of reasonable accommodations for applicants.

II. PROCESS

1. Upon receiving a written request for reasonable accommodation, the Executive Director of Human Resources shall consult with the individual with a disability and their supervisor to find out the specific limitations as they relate to the essential job functions, identify the barriers to job performance and assess how an accommodation can overcome these barriers. Verification of the disability/limitations and/or a second opinion may be appropriate.
2. The Executive Director of Human Resources will consult with the employee/applicant, their supervisor (if an employee), and may consult with other knowledgeable sources, to identify potential accommodations and assess how effective each would be in enabling the individual to perform the essential job functions.
3. If there are two or more effective accommodations that would allow the individual with a disability to perform essential job functions, after considering the preference of the individual with a disability, the employer may select the accommodation to be provided.
4. When an accommodation in an employee’s present position is not reasonable, or would cause an undue hardship, the college will attempt to accommodate the employee through reassignment to a vacant position, at the same pay range or lower, for which s/he is qualified. Within practical limitations, the college may also assist the employee in identifying and applying for vacant positions for which s/he is qualified within other agencies/institutions.
5. Written justification, signed by the President, must be provided for any decision not to provide a reasonable accommodation because of undue hardship. The decision should include the practical and available limits of the institution’s ability to draw upon resources available elsewhere within state government.
6. If the cost of a reasonable accommodation would impose an undue hardship, and there are not other financial resources available, the individual with a disability must be given the option of providing the accommodation, or paying that portion of the cost which would constitute an undue hardship.
7. If no reasonable accommodation can be made a separation due to disability is initiated in accordance with the following procedure and the appropriate collective bargaining agreements.
   • Written notice of separation is provided to the employee. Notice includes, in part, the reason for separation.
   • The employee will be provided with a list of benefit assistance programs offered by other agencies (i.e., public assistance, disability retirement, social security, etc.) and information concerning COBRA.
   • Classified employees will be notified of their option to apply for return to employment and appeal rights; and will be provided with the following information: provisions governing reemployment, assistance provided by the institution when seeking reemployment, information pertaining to a probationary period for employees returning from disability separation information pertaining to the definition and composition of eligible lists information pertaining to training and development for employees returning from separation copies of applicable civil service rules.
8. The college’s internal grievance procedures as set forth in its collective bargaining or other applicable agreements shall be used for addressing disputes related to requests for reasonable accommodation.

III. DISSEMINATION

A copy of this procedure will be given to an employee at the time of a request for accommodation or when steps to accommodate are initiated by the institution.

 

DEFINITIONS

Equal Employment Opportunity: The opportunity to perform the essential job functions or to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment as are available to a similarly – situated applicant or employee without a disability.

Essential functions: The fundamental job duties of the position that the individual with the disability holds or desires. The term “essential functions” does not include the marginal functions of the position. The following criteria should be considered in identifying the essential functions of a position:

1. Employees in the position are actually required to perform the function;
2. Removing the function would fundamentally change the job;
3. The position was established to perform the function;
4. There are a limited number of other employees available to perform the function, or among whom the function can be distributed; and
5. The function is highly specialized, and the person in the position is hired for his/her special expertise or ability to perform it.

Persons with a disability: Persons having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; or a person who has an abnormal condition that is medically recognizable or diagnosable, and who is denied reasonable accommodation or is discriminated against on the basis of that condition.

Qualified individual with a disability: An individual with a disability who meets the skill, experience, education and other job-related requirements of the position held or desired, and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job.

Reasonable accommodation: A modification or adjustment to a job, work environment, policies, practices or procedures that enables a qualified individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunity, benefits, privileges and conditions of employment. Reasonable accommodations may include, but are not limited to, the following actions:

1. Modification of the employee’s regular job duties and/or work schedule;
2. Assignment to a different available position within the current class;
3. Opportunity to apply for other employment within the institution for which the employee qualifies;
4. Leave of absence in accordance with appropriate Collective Bargaining Agreements;
5. Physical office/equipment changes or office relocation to make facilities accessible and usable.

Reasonable accommodations are determined by the circumstances in each case. Not all possible accommodations are reasonable, specifically if they cause an undue hardship.

Undue hardship: An excessively costly, extensive, substantial, or disruptive modification, or one that would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the institution. The following criteria shall be considered in determining undue hardship:

1. The nature and net cost of the accommodation needed, taking into consideration the availability of outside funding;
2. The overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in the provision of the reasonable accommodation, the number of employees, and the effect on expenses and resources;
3. The overall financial resources of the covered entity with respect to the number of employees and the number and type and location of its facilities;
4. The type of operation or operations of the covered entity, including the composition, structure and functions of the workforce of such entity, and the geographic separateness, and administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities in question to the covered entity; and
5. The impact of the accommodation on the operation of the facility including the impact on the ability of other employees to perform their duties and the impact on the facility’s ability to conduct business.

Health Care Professional: A person who has completed a course of study and is licensed to practice in a field of health care which includes the diagnoses and assessment of the particular disability or disabilities in question.