State And Local Governments
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Accommodation
Any person having special needs or requiring special aid, such as an interpreter for the hearing impaired, is requested to contact the State Council for Persons with Disabilities .
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Q Does The Ada Cover Private Apartments And Private Homes
A. The ADA does not cover strictly residential private apartments and homes. If, however, a place of public accommodation is located in a residential setting, such as a rental/sales office, doctor’s office or day care center, those portions of the residential property used for that purpose are subject to the ADA’s requirements.
Q What Is The Definition Of A Wheelchair Under The Ada
A. A wheelchair is a manually operated or power-driven device designed primarily for use by an individual with a mobility disability for the main purpose of indoor, or of both indoor and outdoor, locomotion. Individuals with mobility disabilities must be permitted to use wheelchairs and manually powered mobility aids, i.e., walkers, crutches, canes, braces, or other similar devices designed for use by individuals with mobility disabilities, in any areas open to pedestrian traffic.
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Q What Financial Assistance Is Available To Employers To Help Them Make Reasonable Accommodations And Comply With The Ada
A. A special tax credit is available to help smaller employers make accommodations required by the ADA. An eligible small business may take a tax credit of up to $5,000 per year for accommodations made to comply with the ADA. The credit is available for one-half the cost of “eligible access expenditures” that are more than $250 but less than $10,250.
A full tax deduction, up to $15,000 per year, also is available to any business for expenses of removing qualified architectural or transportation barriers. Expenses covered include costs of removing barriers created by steps, narrow doors, inaccessible parking spaces, restroom facilities, and transportation vehicles.
Q Are Businesses Entitled To Any Tax Benefit To Help Pay For The Cost Of Compliance
A. Yes, Businesses may be eligible for available tax credits and deductions. As amended in 1990, the Internal Revenue Code allows a deduction of up to $15,000 per year for expenses associated with the removal of qualified architectural and transportation barriers.
The 1990 amendment also permits eligible small businesses to receive a tax credit for certain costs of compliance with the ADA. An eligible small business is one whose gross receipts do not exceed $1,000,000 or whose workforce does not consist of more than 30 full-time workers. Qualifying businesses may claim a credit of up to 50 percent of eligible access expenditures that exceed $250 but do not exceed $10,250. Examples of eligible access expenditures include the necessary and reasonable costs of removing architectural, physical, communications, and transportation barriers providing readers, interpreters, and other auxiliary aids and acquiring or modifying equipment or devices.
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Q How Are The Employment Provisions Enforced
A. The employment provisions of the ADA are enforced under the same procedures now applicable to race, color, sex, national origin, and religious discrimination under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Complaints may be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or designated state human rights agencies. Available remedies will include hiring, reinstatement, promotion, back pay, front pay, restored benefits, reasonable accommodation, attorneys’ fees, expert witness fees, and court costs. Compensatory and punitive damages also may be available in cases of intentional discrimination or where an employer fails to make a good faith effort to provide a reasonable accommodation. A charge must be filed within 180 calendar days from the date the discrimination took place. The 180 calendar day filing deadline is extended to 300 calendar days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis. A states designated human rights agency should be consulted to determine if the extended filing deadline applies.
Q What Are Some Of The Accommodations Applicants And Employees May Need
A. Examples of reasonable accommodation include making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by an individual with a disability restructuring a job modifying work schedules acquiring or modifying equipment providing qualified readers or interpreters or appropriately modifying examinations, training, or other programs. Reasonable accommodation also may include reassigning a current employee to a vacant position for which the individual is qualified, if the person is unable to do the original job because of a disability even with an accommodation. However, there is no obligation to find a position for an applicant who is not qualified for the position sought. Employers are not required to lower quality or production standards as an accommodation nor are they obligated to provide personal use items such as wheelchairs, glasses or hearing aids.
The decision as to the appropriate accommodation must be based on the particular facts of each case. In selecting the particular type of reasonable accommodation to provide, the principal test is that of effectiveness, i.e., whether the accommodation will provide an opportunity for a person with a disability to achieve the same level of performance and to enjoy benefits equal to those of an average, similarly situated person without a disability. However, the accommodation does not have to ensure equal results or provide exactly the same benefits.
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Q Are There Any Limitations On The Ada’s Auxiliary Aids Requirements
A. Yes. The ADA does not require the provision of any auxiliary aid that would result in an undue burden or in a fundamental alteration in the nature of the goods or services provided by a public accommodation. However, the public accommodation is not relieved from the duty to furnish an alternative auxiliary aid, if available, that would not result in a fundamental alteration or undue burden. Both of these limitations are derived from existing regulations and are to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Q When Is An Employer Required To Make A Reasonable Accommodation
A. An employer is only required to accommodate a “known” disability of a qualified applicant or employee. The requirement generally will be triggered by a request from an individual with a disability, who frequently will be able to suggest an appropriate accommodation. Accommodations must be made on an individual basis, because the nature and extent of a disabling condition and the requirements of a job will vary in each case. If the individual does not request an accommodation, the employer is not obligated to provide one except where an individual’s known disability impairs his/her ability to know of, or effectively communicate a need for, an accommodation that is obvious to the employer. If a person with a disability requests, but cannot suggest, an appropriate accommodation, the employer and the individual should work together to identify one. There are also many public and private resources that can provide assistance without cost.
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File An Ada Complaint
It is our intent to resolve discrimination complaints expediently and equitably. Any person who believes their ADA protection has been violated may file a complaint with our Office of Equal Opportunity by the following methods:
Email:
Phone: 855-362-4ADA
Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing may make a request by calling the Washington State Relay at 711.
Mail: Allison SpectorActing ADA External Compliance CoordinatorWashington State Department of Transportation310 Maple Park Avenue SEP.O. Box 47300Olympia, WA 98504-7300
The complaint should be submitted by the grievant or the grievants designee as soon as possible but no later than 60 calendar days after the alleged violation.
Within 15 calendar days of receiving the complaint, the ADA External Compliance Coordinator or designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the complaint and possible resolutions. If the issue cannot be resolved during the meeting, the complainant will be notified of next steps towards resolution. All written complaints received will be retained by WSDOT for at least three years.
Q What Is The Definition Of A Service Animal Under The Ada
A. A service animal is any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not considered to be service animals. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not limited to, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing non-violent protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, assisting an individual during a seizure, alerting individuals to the presence of allergens, retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping individuals with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors. The crime deterrent effects of an animals presence and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks.
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Q Are Miniature Horses Service Animals
A. No, however a public entity or private business shall make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures to permit the use of a miniature horse by an individual with a disability if the miniature horse has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of the individual with a disability. Factors that a covered entity may consider in determining when such a modification is reasonable include the type, size, and weight of the miniature horse and whether the facility can accommodate these features whether the individual has sufficient control of the animal whether the animal is housebroken and whether legitimate safety requirements that are necessary for operation of the business or program will be compromised.
Beyond these additional considerations, a covered entity may only make the same kinds of inquiries permitted in the case of service dogs and may not ask about the nature of the individual’s disability or require documentation that the miniature horse is trained.
Q Are Alcoholics Covered By The Ada
A. Yes. While a current illegal user of drugs is not protected by the ADA if an employer acts on the basis of such use, a person who currently uses alcohol is not automatically denied protection. An alcoholic is a person with a disability and is protected by the ADA if s/he is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job. An employer may be required to provide an accommodation to an alcoholic. However, an employer can discipline, discharge or deny employment to an alcoholic whose use of alcohol adversely affects job performance or conduct. An employer also may prohibit the use of alcohol in the workplace and can require that employees not be under the influence of alcohol.
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The Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act Of 2008
The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 was signed into law on September 25, 2008, and became effective on January 1, 2009. The ADAAA made a number of significant changes to the definition of disability. The law required the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to amend its ADA regulations to reflect the changes made by the ADAAA. The final EEOC regulations were published in the Federal Register on March 25, 2011 and became effective on May 24, 2011.
The changes in the definition of disability in the ADAAA apply to all titles of the ADA, including title I title II and title III .
The EEOCs final regulations however apply to title I of the ADA only they do not apply to titles II and III of the ADA. Other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Labor, will need to amend their regulations to reflect the changes in the definition of disability required by the ADAAA.
Q Does Title Ii Cover A Public Entity’s Employment Policies And Practices
A. Yes. Title II prohibits all public entities, regardless of the size of their work force, from discriminating in employment against individuals with disabilities. In addition to title II’s employment coverage, title I of the ADA and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibit employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities by certain public entities.
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Q Does The Ada Require That An Applicant Or Employee With A Disability Be Qualified For The Position
A. Yes. The ADA defines qualified to mean a person who meets legitimate skill, experience, education, or other requirements of an employment position that s/he holds or seeks, and who can perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation. Requiring the ability to perform “essential” functions assures that an individual with a disability will not be considered unqualified simply because of inability to perform marginal or incidental job functions. If the individual is qualified to perform essential job functions except for limitations caused by a disability, the employer must consider whether the individual could perform these functions with a reasonable accommodation. If a written job description has been prepared in advance of advertising or interviewing applicants for a job, this will be considered as evidence, although not conclusive evidence, of the essential functions of the job.
Q How Does The Ada Affect Workers’ Compensation Programs
A. Only injured workers who meet the ADA’s definition of an “individual with a disability” will be considered disabled under the ADA, regardless of whether they satisfy criteria for receiving benefits under workers’ compensation or other disability laws. A worker also must be “qualified” to be protected by the ADA. Although not all work-related injuries cause physical or mental impairments that substantially limit a major life activity, many on-the-job injuries may now constitute disabilities under the ADAAAs broadened definition of disability.
An employer may refuse to hire or may fire a person who knowingly provides a false answer to a lawful post-offer inquiry about his/her condition or workers compensation history.
An employer also may submit medical information and records concerning employees and applicants to state workers’ compensation offices and “second injury” funds without violating ADA confidentiality requirements.
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Q When Can An Employer Ask An Applicant To Self
A. A pre-employment inquiry about a disability is allowed if required by another federal law or regulation such as those applicable to veterans with disabilities and veterans of the Vietnam era. Pre-employment inquiries about disabilities may be necessary under such laws to identify applicants or clients with disabilities in order to provide them with required special services. An employer also may ask an applicant to self-identify as an individual with a disability when the employer is voluntarily using this information to benefit individuals with a disability.
Federal contractors and subcontractors who are covered by the affirmative action requirements of section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 may invite individuals with disabilities to identify themselves on a job application form or by other pre-employment inquiry, to satisfy the section 503 affirmative action requirements. Employers who request such information must observe section 503 requirements regarding the manner in which such information is requested and used and the procedures for maintaining such information as a separate, confidential record, apart from regular personnel records.
Request For Public Accommodations Or Reasonable Modifications
WSDOT will modify its policies, practices and procedures to ensure individuals with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in programs, services or activities unless the modification would be a fundamental alteration, creates a safety concern or is not otherwise required by the ADA.
Requests can be made to any WSDOT employee or, if materials in alternative format are required, please contact or by calling toll free 855-362-4ADA .
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Q What Is The Effect Of Certification Of A State Or Local Code Or Ordinance
A. Certification can be advantageous if an entity has constructed or altered a facility according to a certified code or ordinance. If someone later brings an enforcement proceeding against the entity, the certification is considered “rebuttable evidence” that the state law or local ordinance meets or exceeds the minimum requirements of the ADA. In other words, the entity can argue that the construction or alteration met the requirements of the ADA because it was done in compliance with the state or local code that had been certified.