Employee Reasonable Accommodations
In accordance with the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), San Francisco Community College District will engage in the interactive process with qualified employees with disabilities to determine if they can perform the essential functions of their jobs with or without reasonable accommodations.
The interactive process is a discussion between the employee and the district/college to determine reasonable accommodations. This process may include the employee’s supervisor(s) and the employee’s health care provider, or other relevant parties. The district/college ultimately determines if an accommodation is reasonable.
The employer may request additional information (Supplemental Medical Questionnaire) from the employee’s health care provider to determine if the individual’s medical condition constitutes a disability and/or to verify/understand any work restriction(s) or functional limitation(s) needed to determine reasonable accommodation.
A person with a disability is an individual who:
- has a physical or mental impairment that limits a major life activity; or
- has a record of such an impairment which is known to the employer; or
- is regarded by the employer as having, or having had, such an impairment; or
- is regarded by the employer as having, or having had, a disorder or condition that has no present disabled effect, but that may become a disability.
- major life activities include seeing, hearing, breathing, walking, speaking, learning, working, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, lifting, and other physical, mental and social activities, etc.
The FEHA and ADA define a qualified employee as a person who:
- Satisfies the requisite skill, experience, education, and other job-related requirements of their current job
- Can perform the essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodations
For existing employees, a reasonable accommodation allows an employee to perform all of their essential job functions fully and safely.
The interactive process simply means that employers and employees who request reasonable workplace accommodations work together to come up with possible accommodation solutions. "It is intended as a good faith interaction between the parties – a back and forth of questions and information sharing relating to the limitations and capabilities of the requestor, the needs and constraints of the employer, and the range of possibilities to make it all work." (U.S. Department of the Interior)
General overview of the interactive process for reasonable accommodation under the ADA/FEHA at CCSF (hover over the upper-right corner to "pop-out" the image):
To request reasonable accommodations pursuant to the ADA/FEHA, complete the following:
EMPLOYEE REQUEST FOR REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION FORM
You will be asked to upload the following required supplemental documentation on your request form:
Employees and/or applicants may request a service animal or emotional support animal as an accommodation. Employees and/or applicants should follow the interactive process steps outlined under 'How do I request an ADA/FEHA accommodation?' listed above.
Resource(s):
