An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 9 – Interactive Process: Employees and Students

b. Forms Of Reasonable Accommodation There are various ways for schools to accommodate individuals with disabilities. Reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to, the following:  Making existing facilities accessible  Job restructuring  Establishing part-time or modified work schedules  Reassignment to a vacant position  Acquisition or modification of equipment or devices  Appropriate adjustment or modification of policies, examinations and/or training materials  Providing qualified readers and interpreters  Permitting the use of accrued paid leave or providing additional unpaid leave for necessary treatment  Making employer provided transportation accessible  Providing reserved parking spaces i. Modifying A Workplace Policy Granting an employee time off from work or an adjusted work schedule as a reasonable accommodation may involve modifying leave or attendance procedures or policies. As an example, it would be a reasonable accommodation to excuse compliance with a policy requiring employees to schedule vacation time in advance if an otherwise qualified individual with a disability needed to use accrued vacation time on an unscheduled basis because of disability- related medical problems, barring undue hardship. 1511 Similarly, a school, in spite of a “no- leave” policy, may, in appropriate circumstances, be required to provide leave to an employee with a disability as a reasonable accommodation, unless the provision of leave would impose an undue hardship. ii. Making Facilities Accessible This accommodation includes both those areas that must be accessible for the employee to perform essential job functions, as well as non-work areas used by all employees, such as break rooms, lunch rooms, training rooms, restrooms, etc. 1512  Providing personal assistants to help with specified duties related to the job  Allowing the qualified individual with a disability to provide and use equipment, aids and services that an employer is not required to provide (e.g., wheelchair)  Other similar accommodations for individuals with disabilities 1510

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