UMass Boston

Accommodations

Reasonable Employment Accommodations for Faculty and Staff Members

A reasonable accommodation is assistance or changes to a position or workplace that will enable an employee (or applicant) to do their job despite having a disability. Under the ADA, the university is required to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities, unless doing so would pose an undue hardship to the employer. An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.

Qualified employees are those who hold the necessary degrees, skills, and experience for the job; and who can perform the essential functions of their position with or without an accommodation.

Individuals seeking reasonable accommodations should make their request to Human Resources and are encouraged to submit a Request for Accommodation Form.

Procedure

  1. Complete Section II of the Request for Accommodation Form.
  2. Have your medical provider complete Section III of the Request for Accommodation Form.
  3. Sign the Release of Medical Information Authorization Form.
  4. Submit the completed Request for Accommodation form to Susan D'Amato in Human Resources. Human Resources will schedule a meeting with you and begin the interactive process.

Interactive Process

  1. Employee requests an accommodation and provides supporting medical documentation to Human Resources.
  2. Benefits Team engages the employee and discusses the process and accommodation requested.
  3. Benefits Team contacts the supervisor to discuss the requested accommodation (disability is not disclosed to supervisor):

    • Essential functions of job are reviewed with the supervisor.
    • Discussion of whether requested accommodation is reasonable.
    • If the requested accommodation is not reasonable, identifies alternative accommodation(s).

  4. Human Resources reviews all information and communicates with the employee and supervisor.