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...

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... 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.

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