The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - Employment and Section 504

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, like the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibits certain employers from discriminating based on disability. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 applies to employers who are recipients of federal financial assistance or who operate federal programs.

Reasonable Accommodation Required

Section 504 requires an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation to a qualified individual with a disability. A "qualified individual with a disability" is one who can perform the essential job tasks safely and efficiently, with or without reasonable accommodation. Accommodations are modifications in a job that allow someone with a disability to perform needed tasks. Accommodations are varied in form and may include adaptations of the training site, special aids or devices, part time or modified work schedules, or allowing time off for doctor's visits. For a person with epilepsy, for example, an accommodation might consist of varying the duty hours of someone who has seizures to conform to a medication schedule or to accommodate the individual's seizure activity, installing a safety device around a piece of machinery, placing a piece of carpet over a concrete floor at the employee's work-site, replacing a flickering light with a steady bulb, or switching marginal duties with another employee.

Requesting Accommodation

The employee must request a reasonable accommodation. Employers only need to provide those accommodations that do not impose an undue burden. Whether a particular accommodation will impose an "undue burden" depends on a variety of factors including the overall size of the employer, the number and the type of facilities, the size of its budget, and the nature and cost of the accommodation needed. An employer is not required to make accommodations that would fundamentally alter the job requirements or the nature of the services offered. It is the employer's responsibility to prove that the accommodation poses an undue burden. If the accommodation the employee requested would pose an undue burden, an employer is still obligated to make those accommodations that would not impose such a burden.

Filing a Complaint

Complaints about violations of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act should be filed with the Office for Civil Rights of the federal agency that provides the funding to the employer, or to the Department of Justice if you are unable to determine the appropriate federal agency. Or one can pursue a claim directly in court.