{"id":10855,"date":"2025-10-30T13:34:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T18:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/us\/?post_type=resources&p=10855"},"modified":"2025-10-30T14:05:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T19:05:13","slug":"analyzing-accommodations-under-the-ada","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/us\/resources\/hr-compliance\/discrimination\/analyzing-accommodations-under-the-ada\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask our experts: Analyzing accommodations under the ADA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Emily Scace<\/strong>, JD<\/strong>, Brightmine Senior Legal Editor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Managing accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)<\/a> is a constant pain point for employers – and a frequent subject of Ask Our Experts<\/a> questions. Below are just a few tricky accommodation scenarios our subscribers have asked about recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adjusting performance standards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Q<\/strong>: An employee is requesting reduced performance metrics as part of an accommodation request. Is this considered reasonable?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A<\/strong>: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require an employer to disregard, change or eliminate its performance standards as a reasonable accommodation. In other words, an employer can require an employee with a disability to meet the same performance standards as a non-disabled employee in the same job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that doesn’t mean the employer is off the hook for providing accommodations. There may be ways to assist an employee with a disability in meeting applicable performance standards, and those measures could be a reasonable accommodation that the employer would be required to provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if an employee is having difficulty meeting a production quota because of a physical limitation, could the employer adjust the employee’s workspace to help the employee work more quickly and meet the quota? Or maybe there are non-critical tasks that could be reassigned to allow the employee to focus their time on essential job duties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accommodations are never one-size-fits-all, and engaging in the interactive process is critical. The interactive process should be a true dialogue between the employer and employee about the job requirements, the employee’s disability-related needs, and the possible solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n