How to Ask for Workplace Accommodations

Often times we can feel alone and overwhelmed by the things we struggle with daily when living with mental illness.

But it’s important to remember that there ARE supports available to us that will help aide our lives and allow us to live our lives a little easier and more comfortable.

Work generally takes up a significant portion of our week and we tend to spend more time working than we do anything else.

Workplace accommodations is one of those available supports.

Who can get accommodations at work?

The simple answer is that ANYONE can ask for a workplace accommodation from their employer.

The trickier answer is that employers are only legally obligated to provide workplace accommodations to those who are protected by the American’s with Disabilities Act or the ADA. The ADA is a civil rights law that protects those with disabilities from experiencing discrimination. One of the most important things to recognize is that having a diagnosis does not equal having a disability. The ADA defines this as:

“A person with a disability is someone who has:

• has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,

• has a history or record of such an impairment (such as cancer that is in remission), or

• is perceived by others as having such an impairment (such as a person who has scars from a severe burn).”

This means that medically your physician must be willing to support a major impairment in one or more major life activities.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to get accommodations if you don’t have a physician who will support you have a disability, this just means you should be aware that it’s only discrimination to not accommodate someone if you fall in the category protected by ADA.

Disclosing to your employer…

Whether or not you decide to disclose that you have a disability to your employer is a very personal decision and what this looks like may look different for everyone.

Disclosing your mental health status to an employer can be overwhelming and scary. Mainly, because no matter how great our intentions are, we can’t always guarantee their intentions back will be great too.

What risks are there in disclosing your disability to your employer?

The first risk is probably the most obvious and that is discrimination.

Not all employers are created equal and choosing to open up to your employer about your disability is still a risk you have to make sure is worth taking. Unfortunately, statistics surrounding disability in the workplace do not give a lot of hope.

Those who chose not to disclose their disability have given specific reasons like harassment, being perceived as less able, possible changes in relationships with coworkers, and being passed up for future opportunities. In one study, only 39% of responders had disclosed to a manager that they had a disability and only 24% had disclosed to other coworkers.

What are the benefits of disclosing your disability to your employer?

If you truly need accommodation and not having that accommodation is impacting your work, disclosing your disability and getting the accommodation could be the difference between you maintaining employment and you putting your job at risk. If you are struggling to keep working without accommodations, I would strongly encourage you to open up and request accommodations. There is no guaranteed that it will go exactly as it planned but if you are put on a performance plan or given an ultimatum about your work due to to your struggles, you’re going to be seen as at fault for not mentioning that you needed help or accommodations for a disability. If there is a chance of you losing your job over not having accommodations, I personally believe the risk is worth taking at that post. It is important to note that the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - organization that oversees employers who have more than 50 employees and who handles complaints about discrimination) has declared that an employer does not have to rescind a poor performance or conduct evaluation or discipline simply because an employee has decided to disclose a disability or request accommodations. This makes requesting accommodations before your work performance suffers a significant priority.

Additionally, there are noted benefits of disclosing your disability in the workplace. In the same study mentioned earlier, employees with disabilities who disclose their illness are more content and feel less isolated than employees who did not.

It is worth checking into whether or not your employee has an ERG (Employee Resource Group) which is a group for those with disabilities that will be able to help you make the decision before disclosing in a safe environment. Most of the individuals in these groups have first hand experience with disclosing their disability within your company and can share their experiences with you to help you make the right choice for you.

The Accommodation Process

How do you request accommodations from your employer?

Depending on your employer, the process may look differently for everyone. If your employer has a general hub or online area where you can get information about HR and your employment, I suggest starting there for finding information related to accommodations.

If they don’t have a website or general place you can go for information, I suggest going to your HR representation and asking for information on requesting accommodations.

The accommodations process is outlined specifically by the ADA in how the process should occur.

By law, you only need to make your supervisor aware that you have a disability that is impacting your work and need accommodations. It’s very important to note that you specifically say that your disability is impacting your ability to work. Just disclosing your disability with no additional information does not constitute requesting accommodations. At this point, your supervisor or manager is required to let HR know so they can start the accommodation process. Despite the fact that this can be verbal, some employers do still require you to request accommodations through their own set of guidelines and it’s important to know what these steps are so you can ensure you’re doing it properly so your experience can be a good one.

If your employer does not have a set of guidelines for you to follow when requesting accommodations, the EEOC suggests making your accommodation request in writing. If you’re unsure where to begin with this, JAN (Job Accommodation Network) has a great article that goes into detail for writing out your accommodation request.

Who has access to your medical information?

HR, or the department overseeing accommodations, should be the only individuals with access to the medical documentation provided by your physician. Under the ADA, employers may insist upon knowing the name of an impairment in order to determine if the employee does in fact have a disability protected by ADA and what accommodations would be reasonable and necessary for that impairment. However, some state laws restrict the employer from asking for a specific diagnosis or detailed medical information.

According to the ADA, medical information should be given out on a need-to-know basis. Most accommodation requests can be made or implemented without disclosing what illness or disability you have to your supervisor or manager.

Coworkers should have no access to this information. Although they may question why you have an accommodation if it’s obvious, your supervisor or manager should not be disclosing any personal information when answering these questions.

What happens once you have formally requested accommodations?

Once you have formally requested accommodations for a disability, your employer is obligated to begin the accommodations process with you.

This means scoping out together what accommodations might work best for you and engaging in open communication about what will help you do your best work in their job position. When working through the accommodations process, it’s important to honest about what you need to do your job effectively and to be open to different solutions that could work but may not be what you envisioned.

Essentially, as difficult as the process can be for some people, it is in your employers best interest to help you do your job most efficiently and they likely will be open to suggestions and ideas that you have also.

For more questions and guidance about accommodations and the formal process, check out the free resource JAN!

For questions and guidance on legal based questions, check out the EEOC website.

If you have workplace accommodations and feel comfortable sharing - share in the comments below how your accommodations process you went and any advice or guidance you might have for others when navigating the process!