The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was created to ensure that people with disabilities have equal opportunity to utilize services and resources in our society, and ensures protection from discrimination. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 also prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the employment practices of federal contractors. In keeping with both regulations, the University Administrative Policies (UAP) - #2720: Equal Opportunity, Non-Discrimination, and Affirmative Action and UAP #3110: Reasonable Accommodation for Employees with Disabilities were created to support a diverse workforce.
Both policies discuss the University’s commitment to providing equal access to employment opportunities and reasonable accommodation in the workplace for qualified individuals with a disability. An individual’s disability may be accommodated regardless of full-time employment or probationary period status, unless that accommodation is determined to be a hardship after an interactive discussion with the employee and an assessment of the requested accommodation is made. Please see the link below regarding accommodation requests.
It is recommended that the supervisor/manager work with his or her HR Consultant when reviewing a request for accommodation, or if the department suspects that the employee may have a disability for which an accommodation may be necessary. The supervisor/manager should also contact the HR Consultant if he or she is considering disapproving a request for accommodation. The links below discuss accommodation requests, and include template letters to the employee for supervisors/managers to complete when a request for accommodation is made.
How to request an accommodation:
http://oeo.unm.edu/ada/request.html
http://oeo.unm.edu/ada/responsibilities-staff.html
What is a disability?
http://oeo.unm.edu/ada/index.html
