Accommodating your employees: Easy ways to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act

Making your office suitable for workers with disabilities can be inexpensive and less complicated than you think.

By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. March 7, 2005.

Most doctors are familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act because of how it applies to their patients. Some offices have exam tables with adjustable heights, while others have wide doors and hallways to be more accessible to people in wheelchairs.

Accommodating employees with disabilities, however, is not a scenario for which physicians are as widely prepared. Those who do not have an employee with either a physical or mental disability, might never have been forced to know the different rules that apply to those workers.

There could be a time, though, when you need to help a capable employee who has been injured or diagnosed with a debilitating disease. Or you might want to protect yourself from future liability, by being prepared to hire a person with a disability. Most accommodations are fairly inexpensive, and can go a long way to preserving a harmonious office environment.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are nearly 50 million Americans older than 5 who have a disability, so the odds are pretty good that you eventually could have the opportunity to employ a worker who is disabled. The spectrum, of course, is wide, to the point that you might not even know some of your current employees are technically disabled.

Just as some disabilities can be difficult to define, the ADA itself is a challenging law with many wrinkles best left for legal experts to interpret. For example, a person would not be deemed disabled if he or she is using a medical aid to perform the appropriate job functions, said Rachel Steely, a partner in the labor and employment section of Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, a law firm based in Houston. A person who is legally blind but wears corrective lenses, or someone who has bipolar disorder but is on medication, would not qualify under the act, she said.