Policy Chapters and Sections

Reasonable Accommodation

Chapter: 10 Section: 5.5
Effective Date: 2/15/2019
Expiration Date: Continuing
Published Date: 9/9/2020 11:35:34 AM
Status: Current
Version: 2

Tags: EO, Disability, Equal Employment Opportunity, Nondiscrimination, NDP, NDP

  1. While accessibility is proactive, meaning there requires planning before any person with a disability asks to participate in the program. By contrast, reasonable accommodation is reactive as it refers to the actions a program must take at the time that a person with a disability wants to take part in the program or service, based on that person’s individual needs. DCEO adheres to the regulations and provides accessibility for individuals with disabilities and encourages reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. Individuals with known disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations for the application process or admissions process. Once an applicant with a known disability is admitted, reasonable accommodations are changes that can be made to allow the individual to receive equal benefits. For individuals with disabilities hired to work for the program, reasonable accommodations are changes that can be made to enable them to perform the essential functions of the job.
  2. EOMC follows a three-phase operational plan to address accommodations as listed below:
    1. A person with a disability must be accommodated so that s/he can go through the application or admission process.
    2. When admitted to a program, a person with a disability must receive accommodation to be allowed to receive benefits.
    3. Once a person with a disability is hired, reasonable accommodations must be made to allow that person to do the job.
  3. Accommodations vary from person to person and situation to situation. These general principles simply provide a context for understanding how EOMC applies the concept of reasonable accommodation. Requests for reasonable accommodations may be made by the individuals making the request, or their representatives. DCEO requires recipients to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, unless providing the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the program.
  4. Undue hardship may result if a requested accommodation requires “significant financial difficulty or expense” to complete. The factors listed below summarize what the recipient must consider in deciding whether an accommodation would impose an undue hardship.
  5. Factors EOMC and its recipients consider when determining the feasibility of the accommodation include the:
    1. Type of accommodation asked for;
    2. Net cost of the accommodation;
    3. Overall size of the program;
    4. Overall financial resources; and
    5. Effect that providing the accommodation would have on the program or facility’s ability to serve other customers and carry out its mission.
  6. If the recipient decides that a requested accommodation creates an undue hardship, it must take any steps that eliminate the hardship, but that will enable the person with a disability to participate in the program to the maximum extent possible. Additionally, the recipient must prepare a written statement of the reasons underlying their decision and provide a copy of that statement to the person who requested the accommodation. The recipient is obligated to provide reasonable accommodations as expeditiously as possible, but in not more than sixty (60) days from the time that the request is acknowledged, except where structural changes in facilities are necessary.
  7. If structural changes are necessary, the recipient must develop a transition plan, establishing the steps necessary, including a time frame, to complete the required changes. This plan must be developed in partnership with the individual for whom the accommodation is being designed.

Section 188 Reference Guide PROMISING PRACTICES IN ACHIEVING NONDISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

WIOA Section 188 - Administration, Nondiscrimination

775 ILCS 30 White Cane Law

USDOL Training and Employment Notice (TEN) No. 24-18, Updated Promising Practices in Achieving Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity: A Section 188 Disability Reference Guide (April 3, 2019)

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