Americans With Disabilities (ADA)

Body

Issued By: Human Resources

Effective Date: February 2013

Purpose

The College of St. Scholastica is committed to ensuring equal access and opportunities with regard to employment. This policy sets forth the provisions for the College's compliance with relevant federal and state legislation and establishes the College's intent that qualified individuals with disabilities be provided with reasonable accommodations.

General Statement of Policy

A.

The College shall not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities because of the disabilities of such individuals with regard to employment, including:

application procedures,
hiring,
advancement,
discharge,
compensation,
job training, and
other terms, conditions and privileges of employment

B. Definitions

Disability: A documented physical or mental impairment that materially or substantially limits one or more major life activities; a record of such an impairment or being regarded as having such an impairment.

Reasonable Accommodation: A modification or adjustment to a job, an employment practice, or work environment that makes it possible for a qualified individual with a disability to enjoy an equal employment opportunity.

C. Application

This policy applies to all College of St. Scholastica employees. Employees requesting accommodations under this policy must contact their supervisor.

The College of St. Scholastica shall make reasonable accommodations for the known and documented disabilities within the meaning of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the American with Disabilities Amendment Act (ADM) for applicants and employees; unless the accommodation would cause a direct threat to the individual or others in the workplace and the threat cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation and/or if the accommodation creates an undue hardship on the operations of the business of the College.

All employees are required to comply with the organization's safety standards. Current employees who pose a direct threat to the health and/or safety of themselves or other individuals in the workplace will be placed on appropriate leave until an organizational decision has been made in regard to the employees' immediate employment situation.

D. Assessment and Dialogue:

Providing reasonable accommodations does not require the College to exempt employees from performing the essential functions of their position, to create new positions or to displace another employee from a position for the purpose of an accommodation.

Supervisors who receive disability accommodation requests from employees must immediately consult with Human Resources and should not attempt to determine whether the employee has provided acceptable documentation, or what might constitute reasonable accommodations, without the participation of HR in the discussion.

If the employee with a disability declines reasonable accommodation and, as a result, cannot perform the essential functions of the job, employment may be terminated. The College is not required to offer the reasonable accommodation preferred by the employee. It is only required to offer a reasonable accommodation that is effective in facilitating the employee's ability to perform the essential functions of the job.

The College's assessment of the individual's needs and the availability of accommodations must be made on a case-by-case basis. Human Resources in conjunction with the employee and his/her supervisor will actively engage in ongoing dialogue throughout the assessment process. The College may request permission from the individual making the request for accommodations to interact directly with the medical provider, to determine what accommodation would be reasonable and effective.

The person requesting the accommodation and the office responsible for evaluating the request are required to cooperate in attempting to reach an agreement on a reasonable accommodation. This dialog is the responsibility of both parties.

E. Confidentiality

Information about an employee's documented disability will be kept in a secured file separate from the personnel file in the supervisor's office and/or the Human Resources Department, and this file must be kept confidential and shared with individuals within the College only to the extent allowed by law. However, once Human Resources has been informed of an employee's documented disability and request for accommodations, the employee's supervisor and chain of authority (if applicable) may be notified and brought into the discussion so that any accommodation request can be coordinated through the supervisor and chain of authority.

F. Determination

Final determination of reasonable accommodation rests with the College. Any person with a disability who is dissatisfied with a responsible department's response to a disability accommodation request may file a complaint with the Head of Human Resources who serves as the ADA Coordinator.

If an accommodation is granted to an employee, the College reserves the right to review the accommodation on a regular basis to determine whether updated documentation is needed and whether the accommodation is still appropriate and sufficient.

Responsibility

An employee is responsible for providing adequate notification to his/her supervisor or Human Resources of the need for accommodation for a disability. The employee is also responsible for providing appropriate documentation of the disability, and for cooperating with the College in attempting to reach an agreement on a reasonable accommodation.

HR is responsible for processing and assessing requests for disability accommodations from employees, and for advising supervisors concerning reasonable accommodations for employees.

Failure by supervisory employees to adhere to this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.

Exclusions

Persons with documented disabilities are not entitled to receive accommodations that would fundamentally alter the job, class or activity, or that would excuse performance of the essential functions of a job or essential components of a class or activity.

Temporary, non-chronic impairments, medical conditions (including pregnancy), illnesses and injuries are not disabilities covered under the terms of this policy. Impairments which are expected to, or which in fact do affect an individual for six months or less does not meet the ADA definition of a "disability".

The College is not obliged to grant specific requested accommodations if other reasonable accommodations may suffice to give the requestor equal opportunity and access.

Individuals who pose a direct threat to the safety and health of others are not protected under the law or this policy, and are not entitled to receive accommodations.

Use of illegal drugs, or misuse of drugs or alcohol is not protected activity, and such activity will not be considered as an accommodation.

Terms Used in the Policy

ADA Coordinator: The person designated by the College to review denials of requests for reasonable accommodation and other claims of discrimination. The College's ADA Coordinator is the Head of Human Resources.

Direct Threat: Direct threat means a significant risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of individuals with disabilities or others when this risk cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation.

Essential Functions of the Job: The essential functions of the job refer to those job activities that are determined by the employer to be essential or core to performing the job; these functions cannot be modified.

Major Bodily Functions: Major bodily functions may include physical or mental impairment such as any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more body systems, such as neurological, musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genitourinary, immune, circulatory, hemic, lymphatic, skin and endocrine. Also covered are any mental or psychological disorders, such as intellectual disability (formerly termed mental retardation), organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.

Major Life Activities: Major life activities include the following, but are not limited to: caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating and working.

Qualified Individual: Qualified individual means an individual who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires.

Reasonable Accommodation: A modification or adjustment to a job, an employment practice, or work environment that makes it possible for a qualified individual with a disability to enjoy an equal employment opportunity. This includes any changes to the work environment and may include making existing facilities readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, telecommuting, reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations, training materials or policies, the provision of qualified readers or interpreters, and other similar accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

Substantially Limiting: In accordance with ADM final regulations, the determination of whether impairment substantially limits a major life activity requires an individualized assessment and an impairment that is episodic or in remission may also meet the definition of disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active. Some examples include, but are not limited to, epilepsy, hypertension, asthma, diabetes, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Impairment such as cancer that is in remission but that may possibly return in a substantially limiting form also is considered a disability under EEOC final ADM regulations.

Undue Hardship: Undue hardship means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense by the employer, in determining whether an accommodation would impose an undue hardship on a covered entity, factors to be considered include, but are not limited to:

The nature and cost of the accommodation
The overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in the provision of the reasonable accommodation; the number of persons employed at such facility; the effect on expenses and resources; or the impact of such accommodation upon the operation of the organization
The overall financial resources of the employer; the size, the number, type and location of the facilities
The type of operations of the company, including the composition, structure and functions of the workforce; administrative or fiscal relationship of the particular facility involved in making the accommodation to the employer
The impact of the accommodation on the operation of the facility