Reasonable Accommodation

Washington State University is committed to providing equal opportunity in its services, programs, and employment for individuals with disabilities.

WSU complies with federal and state laws regarding Reasonable Accommodation for persons with disabilities, and will provide Reasonable Accommodation for known physical, mental, or sensory limitation of an otherwise qualified individual. Reasonable Accommodation is modification or adjustment to a job, work environment, policy, practice, or procedure that enables an individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunity and help them remain in their jobs or appointments, with or without accommodations.

Do you have the need for workplace accommodations due to a disability? Review the Reasonable Accommodation Resource Guide to assist you with the steps to apply for a workplace Reasonable Accommodation.

Table of Contents

Eligibility

All WSU employees (including student employees, Academic Student Employees, and non-permanent employees), appointees, candidates, and applicants for employment with WSU can apply for Reasonable Accommodation.  

Reasonable Accommodations are considered for people with disabilities, who have the right to request and may receive reasonable accommodation in all aspects of employment procedures with the University, including applying for positions with the university, and modifying/adjustment components of the job.   

Students and ASE employees may also need to seek accommodations associated with their academic pursuits and should contact the Student Accommodations & Disability Resources office. 

Those needing an accommodation to participate in a WSU-sponsored public event are to contact the event coordinator. Departments needing assistance in responding to accommodation requests for public events contact the  Office of Civil Rights Compliance & Investigation, ADA Coordinator. 

How To Apply

The reasonable accommodation process for employees is interactive and requires collaboration, cooperation and open communication with the requesting individual, their supervisor and management, and the facilitating accommodation specialists in the Medical Leave and Accommodation unit.   

It is the employee’s responsibility to inform the supervisor or HRS that they need a reasonable accommodation in order to perform their job functions or to receive equal benefits, privileges, or terms and conditions of employment. The employee is also responsible for providing current information concerning their medical condition, skills, abilities, training, and experience to HRS MLA as part of the reasonable accommodation request.  At no time should medical information be provided to their supervisors or managers; if a manager receives medical information, if should be forwarded to HRS MLA.  

To apply for Reasonable Accommodation, the following forms, or an applicable alternative, should be completed and returned to the HRS MLA unit:  

Process Overview

Once HRS MLA receives all the necessary information, they will review your submitted information and will contact you, your supervisor, and appointing authority of your department to discuss your request, as part of the reasonable accommodation interactive process. Ultimately, the decision as to what, if any, accommodation is provided is a decision the appointing authority of the department will make.   

As an interactive process the HRS MLA team may: 

  • Meet with you to have you clarify your needs and work responsibilities.  
  • Explore reasonable accommodation options in good faith with you and your department. 
  • Collaborate on identifying a solution that works for you and your department 

This process is not one-size-fits-all. It involves open dialogue, flexibility, and sometimes, input from multiple people. 

Once the interactive process concludes, you will receive a written response that may include: 

  • An approved accommodation, with next steps for implementation 
  • When the University is not able to provide what is requested, we may offer an equally effective alternative 
  • If no reasonable accommodation can be identified, a protected leave of absence may be offered as an alternative accommodation 

The accommodation team and your department will work with you to put any approved changes in place. Some accommodations may require coordination across multiple units (e.g., space planning, technology, or scheduling). Information about a reasonable accommodation is only shared on a need-to-know basis. It is not placed in personnel files and will not be shared with coworkers. If a change affects how others work, they may be informed of the change—but not the reason behind it. 

Accommodations are normally reviewed on a periodic basis, and at any time the health condition may require the accommodation to be revisited, or if there are concerns about their effectiveness, reasonableness, or impact on job functions, allowing for flexibility and the interactive process to continue 

Some accommodations will be set up to address temporary needs, such as when the medical condition is clearly short-term or when the provider’s documentation includes an end date or time-limited recommendation. 

Alternative Job Search

The University attempts to place an employee with a documented disability in an equivalent or lower status vacant position for which the employee qualifies if: 

  • the employee is no longer able to perform the functions of their position with or without reasonable accommodation 
  • medical documentation establishes a reasonable likelihood that engaging in job functions without a reasonable accommodation would aggravate the impairment to the extent that it would create a substantially limiting effect and no reasonable accommodation for the position exists 
  • and/or accommodation in the present position would cause an undue hardship 

Generally, placement under this policy is without competition. However, an employee covered by this policy may compete with other similarly-situated candidates for the same non-promotional position. The employee must meet the minimum qualifications and specific position requirements for any vacant position offered as a reasonable accommodation. The employee must meet those position requirements with or without a reasonable accommodation. 

Under this policy, the University is not required to create a position, displace another employee, offer a promotion, or move an employee into a position for which the employee is not qualified 

Refusal by the employee to cooperate with the placement efforts, or to provide adequate medical documentation, may result in separation or the employee not receiving reasonable accommodation. 

Disability Separations

Disability Separation is an action that may be taken to separate an employee from service when the employee is unable to perform the essential functions of their position or classification with or without reasonable accommodation due to mental, sensory, or physical incapacity. Disability separation is not a disciplinary action. If no applicable position is available (through an alternative vacant position), and after the employee has exhausted their family medical leave or paid family medical leave protected entitlement, the employee may be separated from the University and may be accorded reemployment assistance for a period of two years. 

Frequently Asked Questions

To qualify for Reasonable Accommodation in employment, the health impairment must have a substantially limiting effect upon the individual’s ability to perform their job, ability to be considered for a job, or access to equal benefits, privileges, or terms and conditions of employment. The existence of the impairment and the medical documentation must establish a reasonable likelihood that engaging in job functions without an accommodation would aggravate the impairment to the extent that it would create a substantially limiting effect. 

While your condition may be permanent, HRS performs an annual/periodic reviews on all reasonable accommodations, as you may want to modify your accommodation or your condition, and/or associated limitations may have changed over time. This review may include a request for updated medical documentation to verify that the limitations are still in effect. 

Accommodations due to an employee’s medical condition should be facilitated through the HRS MLA unit.  If you are asked by your employee to accommodate them due to their own medical condition, it is necessary that you refer your employee to HRS and do not participate in medical discussions with your employee. Please contact HRS to notify them you referred your employee. 

By law, medical information must be maintained confidentially and separate from regular personnel records. For staff employees, medical records are retained in the HRS, Medical Leave Accommodation office. 

HRS will not communicate confidential medical information to the department; they will only communicate to your department/college information they need to know, such as associated limitations. 

You are not required to reveal the diagnosis of your condition or the details of your medical treatment to your immediate supervisor or to coworkers. However, some employees choose to share this kind of information with others. Employees who voluntarily share medical information with co-workers should consider that it may be passed on to others. The information should still be treated as confidential. An employee who has shared some information at one time may later decide that he or she no longer wishes to discuss the condition or its treatment. Such decisions must be respected. 

Resources

The University complies with federal and state laws regarding Reasonable Accommodation for persons with disabilities.

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