Best practices in developing reasonable accommodations in the workplace

Since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the provision of reasonable accommodations to jobseekers and employees with disabilities has been viewed as an essential component of hiring and retention. However, the literature on reasonable accommodations indicates reluctance on the part of jobseekers and employees with disabilities to request them, and resistance by employers to provide them. This paper reviews the literature on the provision of accommodations from the perspectives of the individual employee, the workplace, and the organization. From these three vantage points, and based on the empirical research, we suggest ten specific strategies and recommendations that the rehabilitation professional can use to address the barriers to the accommodation process in order to increase the probability that employees with disabilities request and receive reasonable accommodations that enhance work performance and contribute to job retention.