Everett Community College

EvCC3020:  Americans With Disabilities Act Policy

Policy Contact:  VP Human Resources

AUTHORITY:
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (PL 101-336)
29 CFR Part 1630

Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (PL 93-112)
45 CFR Part 84
RCW Chapter 49.60
WAC Title 162-22 and 365-35

Purpose

This policy sets forth provisions for meeting reasonable accommodation requirements of state and federal law. This provides that persons with disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation. This policy affects all employees and candidates for employment of Everett Community College.

Definitions

Individual with a Disability refers to any person who:

1. Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, (i.e. caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and/or working); or
2. Has a record of such an impairment (has a history of, or has been classified as having, a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities);
3. Is regarded as having such an impairment;
4. Has an abnormal condition that is medically recognizable or diagnosable.

Reasonable accommodations in college employment are reasonable modifications or adjustments to a job, work environment, policies, practices, and/or procedures that enable qualified individuals with a disability to enjoy equal employment.

Undue hardship is any excessively costly, extensive, substantial, or disruptive modification or one that would fundamentally alter the nature and operation of the institution or any if its programs or services or threatens the health and safety of the college community.

Health Care Professional means a person who has completed a course of study and is licensed to practice in a field of health care which includes the diagnoses and assessment of the particular disability or disabilities in question.

Equal Employment Opportunity means an opportunity to perform the essential job functions or to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment as are available to similarly-situated applicant or employee without a disability.

A qualified individual with a disability with respect to employment is an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job in question.

Essential Functions refers to the fundamental job duties of the position that the individual with the disability holds or desires. The term does not include the marginal functions of the position.

ADA Policy - Obligations of the College

1. Comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended.
2. Notify individuals of the college's policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of disability and of the steps s/he may take if s/he believes discrimination has taken place. This notice shall be included in all formal correspondence that communicates decisions or policies adversely affecting the individual's status or rights with the institution of higher education. This notice shall include the phone numbers of the United States Department of Education, U.S. Office of Civil Rights, and the Washington State Human Rights Commission.
3. Work with the individual on a case-by-case basis, to select and provide those accommodations appropriate.
4. When an applicant/employee makes a request for a reasonable accommodation, and the disability is not readily apparent and has not been previously documented, the college ADA coordinator may request that the applicant/employee provide verification from a health care professional that s/he has the disability as claimed and that it has the effect of necessitating the reasonable accommodation requested. The College may obtain a second opinion at its own expense from a health care professional of its selection. Such inquiries must be limited to verification of the employee's claims, except that the employer may also request the health care professional suggest possible effective alternative accommodations.
5. The College's internal grievance procedure for addressing disputes shall be used for issues related to requests for reasonable accommodations.

ADA Policy - Obligations of the Employees

1. The obligation to provide reasonable accommodation applies to all aspects of employment.  This duty is ongoing and may arise any time that a person's disability or job changes.
2. The need for a reasonable accommodation shall not adversely affect the consideration of an individual with a disability for employment, training, promotion or opportunity to enjoy equal terms, benefits, privileges and conditions of employment.
3. A qualified individual with a disability has the right to refuse an accommodation. However, if the individual cannot perform the essential functions of the job without the accommodation, s/he will not be considered to be an otherwise qualified individual with a disability after refusing the accommodation.
4. Develop procedures to protect the confidentiality of information regarding the nature and extent of the documented disability. All information regarding the disability must be treated as a confidential medical record and shall be maintained in a secure manner, apart from personnel files with access restricted to designated personnel on a need-to-know basis.
5. Information on reasonable accommodation and this policy shall be disseminated to employees in employee orientations and other appropriate methods.

ADA Policy - Obligations of Qualified Individuals

The college is obligated to provide reasonable accommodation to a qualified individual with a known disability. What is appropriate for the individual is a case-by-case determination. It is the obligation of the individual to seek reasonable accommodation. An individual who seeks accommodations under this policy is responsible for documenting the nature and extent of the disability. The College will work collaboratively with the individual in determining the appropriate accommodation.
To ensure that needed accommodations are provided in a timely manner, the individual shall:

1. Provide timely notice and documentation of the nature and extent of the disability, and the accommodations requests to the ADA Coordinator (Vice President of Human Resources). For pre-employment services, requests for accommodations should be received ten working days prior to the date needed. Lack of advance notice may delay the availability of an accommodation.
2. Provide such additional documentation on the nature and extent of their disability as the college may require for determining appropriate accommodations.  Such documentation may include, but is not limited to; identification of tests administered, test results, description of the covered disability, and recommended accommodations.
3. Promptly notify the ADA Coordinator of any problems encountered in receiving the agreed-upon accommodations.

ADA Policy - Reasonable Accommodation Aand the Essential Functions of the Job

Determination of Essential Functions
Each position should be examined to determine its purpose and its essential functions. Appropriate times to examine a position include when the position is established, when it becomes vacant, and when the duties are changed. The following criteria should be considered in identifying the Essential Functions of a job:

• Are employees in the position actually required to perform the function?
• Would removing that function fundamentally change the job?
• Was the position established to perform the function?
• Are there a limited number of other employees available to perform the function, or among whom the function can be distributed?
• Is the function highly specialized, and is the person in the position hired for special expertise or ability to perform it?

1. Upon receiving a reasonable accommodation request, the College shall consult with the individual with a disability to find out his or her specific physical or mental abilities and limitations as they relate to the essential job functions, identify the barriers to job performance and assess how an accommodation can overcome these barriers.
2. The College shall consult with the employee, and may consult with other knowledgeable sources, to identify potential accommodations and assess how effective each would be in enabling the individual to perform essential job functions.
3. If there are two or more effective accommodations that would allow the individual with a disability to perform essential job functions, after considering the preference of the individual with the disability, the employer may select the accommodation to be provided.
4. When an accommodation in an employee's present position is not reasonable, or would cause an undue hardship, the College shall attempt to accommodate the employee through reassignment to another vacant position, at the same pay range or lower, for which s/he is qualified, within the College. The employee is responsible for providing current information showing skills, abilities, training, and experience.