Key Terms and Definitions
Question: What are “essential job functions”?
Answer: The “essential functions of a job” are the fundamental job duties that an employee must be able to perform on his or her own or with the help of a reasonable accommodation. Essential functions do not include marginal functions of the position, meaning those that are merely incidental to the performance of the fundamental job duties of a position. An employing office cannot refuse to hire an individual because the individual's disability prevents the individual from performing duties that are not essential to the job.
Question: Does an employing office have to give preference to a qualified applicant with a disability over other applicants?
Answer: No. An employing office is free to select the most qualified applicant available and to make decisions based on reasons unrelated to a disability. For example, suppose two persons apply for a job as a typist and an essential function of the job is to type 75 words per minute accurately. One applicant, an individual with a disability, who is provided with a reasonable accommodation for a typing test, types 50 words per minute; the other applicant who has no disability accurately types 75 words per minute. The employing office may hire the applicant with the higher typing speed if typing speed is needed for successful performance of the job.
Question: Must an employing office give the employee the exact accommodation the employee requests?
Answer: No. The decision of what constitutes a reasonable accommodation in a given case is made through an interactive process between the employing office and the employee seeking accommodation. An employee requesting accommodation may not necessarily get the accommodation he or she has requested. The employing office is simply required to provide a reasonable accommodation that allows the employee to perform the essential functions of the job.
Question: Must an employing office lower its standards for a particular position in order to accommodate an individual with a disability?
Answer: No. The employing office is not required to lower standards as an accommodation. An individual with a disability must be qualified for the position, and the employing office is under no obligation to change the essential job functions or accept a work of inferior quality.
Question: May an employing office refuse to hire an applicant because the employing office believes that it would be unsafe because of the applicant's disability?
Answer: An employing office may refuse to hire an individual if it can prove that the individual poses a direct threat to the health or safety of him or herself or others. A direct threat means a significant risk of substantial harm. The determination that there is a direct threat must be based on objective, factual evidence regarding an individual's present ability to perform the essential functions of a job, and must be based on medical judgment that uses the most current medical knowledge. An employing office cannot refuse to hire someone because of a slightly increased risk, or because of fears that there might be a significant risk sometime in the future. The employing office must also consider whether a risk can be eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level with a reasonable accommodation.
Question: Does the employee have to pay for a needed reasonable accommodation?
Answer: No. The law requires that the employing office provide the accommodation unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employing office's business. If the cost of providing the needed accommodation would be an undue hardship, the employee must be given the choice of providing the accommodation or paying for the portion of the accommodation that causes the undue hardship.
