When an employee requests a reasonable accommodation, it’s not the time for guesswork. Employers shouldn’t assume what workers can or can’t do — or what the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does or doesn’t require. The law has nuances, and missteps can be costly. For HR teams, understanding the ADA and avoiding common pitfalls isn’t just a best practice — it’s essential.

Toolkit: Accommodating Employees’ Disabilities

At SHRM25 in San Diego,  labor and employment attorney Mario Bordogna, partner at Bowles Rice in Morgantown, W.Va., and Canonsburg, Pa., delivered a countdown of the top 10 accommodations mistakes that employers still make. His message? Even well-intentioned efforts can go sideways if HR teams don’t stay informed, communicate clearly, and follow a consistent process. 

10. Thinking your employee doesn’t have a disability. 

The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 broadened coverage of the law and lowered the threshold for what constitutes a disability. Close calls aren’t likely to go employers’ way, Bordogna cautioned.

9. Not getting medical information and doctor approval of essential job functions when the need for accommodation isn’t obvious. 

Send the job description and essential functions to the medical professional to directly ask if they can be performed with or without a reasonable accommodation. 

8. Not having a proper job description to rely on. 

Without a current job description clearly and accurately identifying essential functions, an employer makes it more difficult in nearly every other step of the reasonable accommodation process, including getting medical documentation. “If you remember one thing from this presentation, create job descriptions,” Bordogna said.

7. Forgetting that mental health conditions are disabilities. 

Bordogna recommended listing tangible functions such as teamwork, interpersonal communication, and attendance as essential job functions in job descriptions. “These are implicated more with mental impairments,” he said, though he added they also can be relevant to physical disabilities. 

6. Overlooking employers’ rights in the interactive process for identifying an accommodation. 

Employers don’t have to create another position for the employee, grant the worker’s preferred accommodation, eliminate job functions, accommodate in cases of undue hardship or direct threat to the health of the employee or others, hire other colleagues or make colleagues work longer, or violate a collective bargaining agreement or seniority rules. 

5. Over-relying on the undue hardship defense. 

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and courts interpret the undue hardship defense narrowly. Cost alone is rarely sufficient to justify reliance on it, Bordogna cautioned. It’s “dangerous” to rely on the undue hardship defense, he said: “It doesn’t mean ‘I don’t like it.’ ”

4. Failing to handle pregnancy-related issues properly. 

Pregnancy itself isn’t a disability, but pregnancy-related impairments may be. Also, don’t forget employer’s obligations to accommodate under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

3. Knowing when remote work is — and is not — a reasonable accommodation. 

Look to whether your job descriptions require remote work, whether telework can be supervised remotely, and if tools and technology can be provided at a distance. 

2. Assuming your leave policies end ADA coverage. 

Unpaid leave remains a fundamental accommodation under the ADA, even if the employee has no other company leave entitlement, Bordogna said. 

1. The employer ending up holding the bag. 

“What does that mean?” Bordogna asked. The interactive process for identifying a reasonable accommodation should be an ongoing conversation between the employer and employee. Deliberate on all requested accommodations, communicate, and leave nothing outstanding. If the employee is not responsive in the interactive process, the employer can move on. “Loose ends don’t pay dividends,” Bordogna said.

How-To Guide: How to Handle ADA Accommodation Requests

SHRM Research on Accommodation Mistakes

Here are examples of additional common reasonable accommodations mistakes based on recent SHRM research and thought leadership:

Lack of Clear Expectations for Accommodations 

Accommodations can become problematic when expectations are not clearly defined at the outset, leading to performance issues. 

Overlooking Simple Workplace Resources

Simple accommodations, such as noise-canceling headphones or quiet rooms, are often overlooked despite being the second most frequently cited helpful accommodation by employees.

Ignoring the ‘Curb-Cut Effect’

Many accommodations, such as flexible scheduling, benefit a broader group of employees beyond those with disabilities, but organizations often fail to adopt these practices.