You are not alone
- When a disability issue arises, contact your local HR Manager or contact Cornell’s Medical Leaves Administration at 607.255.1177 or visit Disability Accommodations.
A resource: The Job Accommodation Network
- The Job Accommodation Network is an online resource to help employers find disability accommodations for a variety of disabilities.
- Go to www.jan.wvu.edu or call 800-526-7234.
The most effective accommodations are not always the most expensive or elaborate
- Simple accommodations are often more powerful.
- Get creative. Consider new ways of doing things. Consider new ways of dividing up tasks. Consider new work locations. Consider simple changes to devices/equipment/furniture.
Assistive Technology
- New devices, hardware, software and equipment enable workers with many different types of disabilities to use computers, travel, communicate and work as effectively as others.
- Assistive technologies are quickly becoming more powerful, more effective and less costly.
- Go to www.jan.wvu.edu to learn more about these options.
Accommodations of first and last resort
- Consider first: accommodations that keep the employee engaged in the essential functions of their current job.
- Consider last: accommodations that take the employee away from the essential functions of their current job, such as extended leave or re-assignment to another job.
Denying an accommodation
- Do not deny an employee’s accommodation request without consulting your local HR Manager or Cornell’s Medical Leaves Administration office.
- Employers can deny an accommodation that causes undue hardship (significant expense or difficulty). Undue hardship is determined on a case by case basis.
About leave
- If leave is the only option available, employees must be able to use accrued paid and then unpaid leave as a disability accommodation.
- The job must be kept open for the employee’s return.
What is NOT an accommodation?
Employers are not required to:
- Provide travel to/from the workplace.
- Provide equipment not used on the job.
- Provide light duty options.
- Create new job roles or job vacancies where none exist
- Eliminate essential functions.
- Compromise their code of conduct when this code is fair and uniformly applied.
- Reduce productivity.
Accommodating veterans
- Veterans with disabilities have a right to an accommodation under several laws.
- Create a climate of trust so that veterans with disabilities can come forward to get the accommodations they need.
- Veterans with the “signature” disabilities of post-traumatic stress injury (PTSI) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be accommodated in a variety of ways, depending on the nature of their disability and the job.
