Reasonable Accommodation
Federal and state disability laws, UC policies, and collective bargaining agreements require UCB to provide assistance to employees with disabilities.
Those eligible include all staff, faculty, academic appointees and student employees who have a disability or become disabled and need assistance to perform the essential functions of their position.
Access to Services:
-
Students in need of accommodation for academic pursuits may contact the Disabled Students Program (DSP) https://dsp.berkeley.edu/home
-
Student employees in need of accommodation related to their work duties may contact Disability Management dmsrequest@berkeley.edu
-
Academic appointees in need of accommodation may contact Disability Management dmsrequest@berkeley.edu
-
Visiting Scholars program (VSP) participants in need of accommodation may contact Disability Management dmsrequest@berkeley.edu
-
Staff members in need of accommodation may request assistance through People and Culture Staff Disability Reasonable Accommodation Program
What is a Reasonable Accommodation?
As defined by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), a reasonable accommodation is modifications or adjustments that are:
- effective in enabling an applicant with a disability to have an equal opportunity to be considered for a desired job
- effective in enabling an employee to perform the essential functions of the job the employee holds or desires
- effective in enabling an employee with a disability to enjoy equivalent benefits and privileges of employment as are enjoyed by similarly situated employees without disabilities
Request for Accommodation
Medical Documentation
Examples of Accommodation
Reasonable accommodation may include, but not limited to, changes such as:
- Job restructuring
- Modified work schedule
- Job-site modifications
- Acquisition of equipment and devices
- Leave of absence
- Reassignment to a vacant position
What is the Interactive Process?
Steps to the Interactive Process
Since all reasonable accommodations are case-specific, the Interactive Process can vary. Below are the basic steps:
- Employee requests accommodation or the supervisor becomes aware of a need for accommodation.
- Supervisor consults with HR Partner, as needed.
- Employee provides medical documentation of work restrictions.
- Supervisor reviews essential and non-essential job tasks.
- Supervisor together with the employee discuss whether or not the work restrictions impact the ability to perform the essential functions of the job.
- Supervisor and employee interact in order to identify potential accommodation alternatives.
- Supervisor and employee discuss, explore, and assess the effectiveness of each potential accommodation.
- Implement the accommodation.
- Supervisor and employee monitor the continuing effectiveness of the accommodation.
- Supervisor should document each step of this process.
Assistance from Disability Management can be requested during any part of this process.
How We Can Help
Disability Management provides:
- Direct Management of the intake and facilitation process for reasonable accommodation requests for academic appointees
- Confidential consultation to faculty and staff whose disability may impact their ability to work
- Guidance on topics such as leaves of absence, reasonable accommodation and the interactive process
- Confidential communication between the University and health care providers in order to obtain or clarify functional limitations and work restrictions
- Technical assistance in exploring options for reasonable accommodation
- Guidance to managers, supervisors and HR partners on workplace disability matters