The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the Workplace

1551 Words4 Pages

People with disabilities have become an integral part of the workforce. The ADA forbids discrimination against people with disabilities when recruiting, hiring, training, and compensating employees (Sotoa & Kleiner, 2013). The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental and establishes requirements for telecommunications relay services (activities (Stryker, R. (2013). Employers are not allowed to ask employees if they have a disability. The employers are not allowed to ask employees with disabilities to undergo a medical exam before an offer of employment unless all applicants are required to take the same exam (Kaye, Jans, & Jones, 2011). It is mandatory for organizations to make necessary accommodations for the employee’s disabilities unless it would create an undue hardship to the organization. However, new laws were passed stating that if accommodations would be too burdensome, and no other solutions can be found for the job, the disable person must be given another vacant job (Sotoa & Kleiner, 2013). The requirements for employers under ADA are very strict and organizations must work diligently to provide the needs of the employees with disabilities to comply with the law.
There are many disabilities that are under ADA. The definition of a disability is any medical condition that substantially limits a person’s ability to perform major life activities (Sotoa & Kleiner, 2013). The major activities include walking, seeing, breathing, hearing, performing manual tasks, caring for oneself, sitting, standing, thinking, and learning (Broersen, Mulders, Schellart, & van der Beek, 2012). There may be a number of cognitive and/or beh...

... middle of paper ...

... Gilles, P., Lesage, A., & Goldner, E. (2011). Job acquisition for people with severe mental illness enrolled in supported employment programs: A theoretically grounded empirical study. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 21(3), 342-354.
Kaye, H., Jans, L., & Jones, E. (2011). Why don't employers hire and retain workers with disabilities? Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 21(4), 526-536. doi:10.1007/s10926-011-9302-8
Solovieva, T. I., Wallsh, R. T., Hendricks, D. J., & Dowler, D. L. (2010). Workplace personal assistance services for people with disabilities: Making productive employment possible. Journal of Rehabilitation, 76(4), 3-8.
Sotoa, S., & Kleiner, K. (2013). How to Accommodate Common Disabilities in the Workplace. Nonprofit World, 31(3), 11.
Stryker, R. (2013). Revised ADA Requirements: What do they mean to you? Camping Magazine, 86(2), 10-12.

Show More
Related

  • Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination based upon their disability (Bennett-Alexander, 2001). The protection extends to discrimination in a broad range of activities, including public services, public accommodations and employment. The ADA's ban against disability discrimination applies to both private and public employers in the United States.

    Read More

  • Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act Case Study

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movement continues to make great strides towards the empowerment and self determination ("Disability rights movement," 2005, p. 3). On the other hand, it has not completely broken down barriers that continue to create the dynamics of oppression among such individuals. For instance, WIOA can be harmful to individuals with disabilities because there are still societal prejudices and biases associated with the stereotypical portrayal of people with disabilities and WIOA has played a role in it. For example, WIOA networks with employers to hire individual’s with disabilities and place them in conventional settings, where they work with others who have disabilities, for example, Walgreen’s and in fact, these participating organizations have also increased their pay. In my opinion, individual’s with disabilities should be able to work with individuals who are not disabled, as well. Furthermore, pay for those individuals who are still considered to be in “sheltered” work programs have not received an increase in pay. Additionally, according to my studies, in 2012, less than 30 percent of Florida’s civilians with disabilities between age 18-64 living in the community were employed. There is a greater priority focused on young people who are disabled. This is an additional issue in my opinion which can be considered discrimination, because, the focus leaves out middle aged individuals as well as,

    Read More

  • Section 504 and The Americans with Disabilities Act

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is probably the most comprehensible formulation of disabled individuals’ rights. The ADA officially became a law July 26, 1990 signed by President Bush. To understand the impact of the ADA, one must understand that almost every individual or family is touched by an experience of disability at one time or another. The necessities for state and local government, transportation, employment, and telecommunications can latently benefit everyone. An important point to understand is unlike people who have experienced discrimination based...

    Read More

  • Civil Rights for the Disabled: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

    2324 Words  | 5 Pages

    Gilmore, D. & Butterworth, J. 9 (2001). Research to Practice: Vocational Rehabilitation Outcomes and General Economic Trends, 2. (n.p.). Retrieved November 18, 2006, from Institute for Community Inclusion website:

    Read More

  • The Americans With Disabilities Act

    2763 Words  | 6 Pages

    I believe the Americans With Disabilities Act is the most important precedent set in the struggle against all discrimination for persons with disability. In this paper I will give a brief description of the statutes set by the Americans With Disabilities Act, pertaining to disabilities in the workplace. I will then discuss what employers are required to do according to the A.D.A. and some of the regulations they must abide by. The next section of this paper will discuss the actual training of employees with disabilities with a highlight on training programs for workers with mobility and motion disabilities. The following section of this paper will discuss the economic effects of a vocational rehabilitation program. Finally this paper will conclude with a brief discussion of what the measures set by the Americans With Disabilities Act means to the actual workers and people it benefits.

    Read More

  • What is Reasonable Accommodation Under ADA

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Americans with Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) was put into force to protect employees from discrimination with disabilities in the area of employment. A person with a disability can be defined under the ADA as someone who has a physical or mental impairment which considerably limits one or more of major life activities. “It has been estimated that nearly one in five Americans has one or more physical or mental disabilities”(law book pg115). The ADA federal law requires that employers with 15 or more employees not to discriminate against applicants and current employees with disabilities and, when needed, provide reasonable accommodations to these individuals who are more than qualified to work. These individuals are protected in regard to the application process, hiring, advancement, firing, compensation/benefits, training or other privileges of employment. If an individual is requesting accommodation due to a disability and can be reasonably accommodated without creating an undue hardship or causing a direct threat to workspace safety must be given the same consideration for employment as any other applicant. An employer is not obligated to hire anyone that is not qualifies to what is considered the essential functions of the job according to the ADA. An accommodation under the ADA must allow the employee enjoy equal benefits, given an equal opportunity for the person with the disability to be considered for the job and to perform the essential functions.

    Read More

  • The Deaf Community and Deaf Culture

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Americans with Disabilities Act, TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE U.S.C. § 12101 - 12117 et seq. (Author 1990 ).

    Read More

  • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is one of the most significant laws in American History. Before the ADA was passed, employers were able to deny employment to a disabled worker, simply because he or she was disabled. With no other reason other than the person's physical disability, they were turned away or released from a job. The ADA gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. The act guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunications. The ADA not only opened the door for millions of Americans to get back into the workplace, it paved the road for new facilities in the workplace, new training programs, and created jobs designed for a disabled society (Frierson, 1990). This paper will discuss disabilities covered by the ADA, reasonable accommodations employers must take to accommodate individuals with disabilities, and the actions employers can take when considering applicants who have disabilities.

    Read More

  • Andrew Beckett's ADA Claim

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Here, we must determine if Andrew qualifies for an ADA claim. The initial consideration in an ADA claim analysis is whether or not the plaintiff has a major disability. In this case, Andy did not tell the firm of his illness. However, an employee in the firm noticed a small lesion on Andrew’s forehead, which in the time was clear indication of AIDS. Rather than further analyzing Beckett’s illness and making him reasonable accommodation, he was called in a meeting room and is fired from the firm.

    Read More

  • The Reasonable Accommodation Act (ADA)

    443 Words  | 1 Pages

    Reasonable accommodation cannot be too expensive to the HIM department to implement, but it can be limited to job reassign, change on schedule, acquisition or modification of equipment devices, training material and provision of interpreters. The HIM professional should not discriminate any employee with disabilities. The ADA prohibits an employer from not hiring applicants based on their disabilities, they do not require an employer to hire someone with disability over the qualify applicants. hence, the Him professional should hire the most suited position. This apply also to the pay, firing, promotion, job assignments, training, leave, benefits and lay off. If the disable employee doesn’t meet the job standard or productivity accommodated to him or her, the HIM must follow the policy and document the report card of the employee in question before firing or

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience Research Paper

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ADA should have come long before 1990, but its existence now ensures that the disabled are protected. While some disabled have benefited economically from the rights ensured in the ADA, an assessment of effectiveness of the ADA hints that employment has not really increased and some facilities are still difficult to access for the disabled. Part of the reason states, businesses and public groups struggle to bring their facilities up to par with federal regulations is the financial burden. Some solutions that could potentially solve the problem would be giving some money to the state governments to alter facilities where accessibility is of the utmost

    Read More

  • The Need for Vocational Rehabilitation

    1615 Words  | 4 Pages

    The need for vocational rehabilitation as it pertains to individuals with disabilities is growing rapidly. It is imperative that the tools are given for success. There are many obstacles that people face when attempting to secure proper employment and housing. The type of disability plays a significant role. There are many factors that affect an individual's ability to obtain adequate employment and housing. Factors such as gender, age and socio-economic background are key. Employment and housing are the most important elements when transitioning from school to work or childhood to adulthood.

    Read More

  • Disability Rights Essay

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    This act established old age benefits and funding for assistance to blind individuals and disabled children and the extension of existing vocational rehabilitation programmes. In present day society, since the passage of the ADA (American with Disabilities Act of 1990) endless efforts of the disability rights movement have continued on the focus of the rigorous enforcement of the ADA, as well as accessibility for people with disabilities in employment, technology, education, housing, transportation, healthcare, and independent living for the people who are born with a disability and for the people who develop it at some point in their lives. Although rights of the disabled have significantly gotten better globally throughout the years, many of the people who have disabilities and are living in extremely undeveloped countries or supreme poverty do not have access nor rights to any benefits. For example, people who are in wheelchairs as a transportation device have extremely limited access to common places such as grocery stores, schools, employment offices,

    Read More

  • Disability Essay

    2464 Words  | 5 Pages

    Individuals with disabilities are individuals, first and foremost. Regardless of the severity and classification of their disability, be it physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or some combination of these; disabled people, just as the majority of society, have their own agendas regarding life and vocational motivations, needs and purposes (onley salamone). Traditionally, there was a clear vocational distinction between people with disabilities and the non-disabled population (reference???). As Walls & Fullmer (???) state, employment plays a large role in a person’s identity; affecting social, emotional, and intellectual factors as well as physical well-being; people come to view themselves as productive community members rather than people impaired by disability (Walls_fullmer ). One of the most significant advances in rehabilitation over the past couple of decades, due largely to a continual societal emphasis on deinstitutionalisation, has been the supported employment movement (Onley and salamone ). Although not without its continuing challenges and disparities, the primary focus of vocational rehabilitation is to empower people with disabilities to obtain and maintain competitive employment and meaningful careers. This advocacy movement of empowerment has opened the vocational door to the disabled population to participate in the mainstream labour force, in turn, fulfilling standardized expectations of the individual and society (Walls_fullmer). This essay will explore the nature of supported employment for the disabled person and any implications for the future direction of the supported employment initiative. (happy??!!)

    Read More

  • Discrimination Against People With Disabilities

    1586 Words  | 4 Pages

    Whether born from ignorance, fear, misunderstanding, or hate, society’s attitudes limit people from experiencing and appreciating the full potential a person with a disability can achieve. This treatment is unfair, unnecessary, and against the law (Purdie). Discrimination against people with disabilities is one of the greatest social injustices in the country today. Essential changes are needed in society’s basic outlook in order for people with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to succeed in life. To begin with, full inclusion in the education system for people with disabilities should be the first of many steps that are needed to correct the social injustices that people with disabilities currently face.

    Read More

More about The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the Workplace

Open Document