Federal and state laws both require that employers provide accommodations for an employee who has a physical or mental health limitation when it is reasonable to do so.

When evaluating a request for reasonable accommodation, employers should consider the following factors:

• The nature and cost of the accommodation
• The business’s financial resources
• The number of employees
• The effect on the business’s expenses and resources
• The impact of the accommodation on the business
  Larger businesses have greater resources and can absorb greater costs. Accommodations such as modification of a workspace, remote work capabilities, installing ramps or modification of a restroom could be reasonable for a large business but not for a small business.

While many small businesses may be exempt from federal and/or state law requirements, we at B2B always recommend an employer make those accommodations when they can.

Some examples of a reasonable accommodation for a small business owner may be:

• Allowing an employee take extra breaks during the day to take medication or do physical therapies.
• Changing work hours or tasks or removing a non essential task from the job duties. Such a allowing an employee to work a split shift, or not requiring your receptionist to also work in the warehouse.
• Providing an assistive device such as voice recognition software for someone with carpal tunnel or a height adjusting chair or desk for an employee with a back injury.
• Providing a laptop and allowing an employee with medical conditon to work from home 1 to 2 days a week as needed.
• Installing a sign In a breakroom that says “Allergy free zone, please no peanuts in this area” so an employee is not exposed to a dangerous allergen.

As small business owners, we should be setting an example. That $10 sign, $500 laptop, $100 chair, or allowing that great employee to take off for a couple hours during the day is a small price to pay for having a great employee! That small expense is the difference between “This is a great company to work for, they’ve taken great care of me” and “That guy is the most selfish jerk… he couldn’t be bothered to buy a new chair for me to sit comfortably”

Take care of your team so they can take care of your business!

If you need help evaluating your HR policies, and reasonable accommodation requests… we have a solution for you.

West coast 360-529-2672
Midwest 319-451-0501