11 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE DISABILITY REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION OBLIGATION

While we have posted a bundle of material about the reasonable accommodation obligations, a recent EEO decision spelled them out so clearly, we thought we would outline the law for you.  Here is what EEOC wrote.

1. When an employee does not meet the physical qualifications to perform the essential functions of a position, an agency is not required under the Rehabilitation Act to lower the performance standards of a position to accommodate an individual with a disability.
2. However, the employee may still be a “qualified individual” under the Rehabilitation Act.
3. The discussion of “qualified” does not end at employee’s position of record. The term “qualified individual with a disability,” with respect to employment, is defined as an individual with a disability who, with or without a reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the position held or desired.
4. The term “position” is not limited to the position held by the employee but also includes positions that the employee could have held as a result of reassignment.
5. In determining whether an employee is a qualified individual with a disability, an agency must look beyond the position which the employee presently encumbers.
6. In general, reassignment is the reasonable accommodation of last resort and should be considered only when: (1) there are no effective accommodations that would enable an employee to perform the essential functions of their current position; or (2) accommodating the employee in the current position would cause an undue hardship.
7. An agency should reassign the employee to a vacant position that is equivalent in terms of pay, status, and other related factors; if there are no vacant equivalent positions, then the agency should reassign the employee to a lower-level position that is closest to the current position.
8. Because it possesses the relevant information, an agency is obligated to inform an employee about vacant positions for which the employee may be eligible as a reassignment.
9. The obligation under the Rehabilitation Act to offer reassignment is not limited to vacancies within a particular department, facility, or geographical area. Instead, the extent of the agency’s search for a vacant position is an issue of undue hardship. Accordingly, absent undue hardship, the agency must conduct an agency-wide search for vacant, funded positions that the employee can perform with or without reasonable accommodation.
10. An agency may not unreasonably delay the processing of Complainant’s request to such an extent that it amounts to denial of reasonable accommodation.
11. If the employee had left the agency due to the denial of the accommodation or been denied work, the employee is to be placed in the position retroactively. The employee’s pay shall reflect all step and grade increases she would have received with satisfactory performance had the Agency provided her with reassignment as reasonable accommodation following the retroactive reinstatement.

These statements are taken from Eulalia B., v. David Steiner, Postmaster General, EEOC No. 2023004157 (2026). Because the agency did not comply with these requirements, she received four years of back pay with interest, retroactive benefits (including leave credits and pension contributions), additional compensatory damages up to $300,000.00, and extra money to cover the income tax consequences of receiving such a large sum all at once.

Union should consider emailing this post to their members in case one of them is having significant difficulties performing their current job due to physical or mental problems.