Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) is a comprehensive anti-discrimination statute that prohibits discrimination against “qualified individuals with disabilities.” A qualified individual with a disability is one who meets the skill, experience, education, and other job-related requirements of a position held or desired, and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of a job.
In order to be eligible to request a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, an individual must be a University of Richmond employee and the accommodation must be required to perform an essential function or functions of his/her job. The reasonable accommodation requested must not place an undue hardship on the University of Richmond and must not cause a direct threat to others.
When an employee has a qualified disability (as defined by the ADA) which limits his or her ability to perform the essential functions of their job, it is the policy of the University of Richmond to provide a reasonable accommodation when necessary.
Procedure for Requesting an Accommodation
Qualified individuals with disabilities should make requests for reasonable accommodations by completing the Human Resources ADA Employee Accommodation Request Form. Human Resources will review the request and meet with the employee to discuss and identify the precise limitations resulting from the disability and the potential accommodation(s) the University might make. The Human Resources representative may also discuss the request with appropriate individuals identified as having a need to know, such as the individual's supervisor or department head, in order to ascertain the feasibility of the requested accommodations
Human Resources will inform the employee of the University's decision on the accommodation request.
If the accommodation request is approved:
- Human Resources will provide the employee with a letter indicating the approved accommodation as well as a recertification schedule if needed.
- Human Resources will coordinate the implementation of the accommodation with necessary parties.
If the accommodation is denied:
- Human Resources will provide the employee with a letter indicating why the request was denied. Human Resources will schedule a facilitative discussion with the employee to discuss the accommodation request and potential alternative accommodations.
- This facilitative discussion could involve other staff members, such as managers, General Counsel, Risk Management, and others as needed.