There is no official federal ADA form for employers. The EEOC has not published a standardized reasonable accommodation template, and accommodation requests from employees do not have to be in writing to trigger your legal obligations. What the law does require is a documented, good-faith process. That means building your own internal forms—job descriptions, intake sheets, interactive process logs, medical inquiry letters, approval and denial notices, and confidential file systems—that together prove you took each request seriously, evaluated it properly, and protected the employee’s medical information. The set of ADA forms for employers described below is what actually keeps a company on the right side of Title I when a complaint or lawsuit lands.
Whether Your Company Is Covered
Title I of the ADA applies to employers with 15 or more employees. Below that threshold, the federal accommodation duty does not attach, though state disability laws often do. If your headcount meets the threshold, you cannot discriminate against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in any term of employment, and you owe a duty to provide reasonable accommodations unless doing so would impose an undue hardship. Everything that follows assumes you are a covered employer.
The Written Job Description
A current, specific job description is the single most important document in any accommodation situation. The EEOC treats a written job description prepared before advertising or interviewing as evidence of what functions are essential to the role. That matters because the law only requires you to accommodate an employee who can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without accommodation. If a disputed function isn’t in the description, arguing later that it was truly essential gets much harder.
Good job descriptions list concrete physical requirements (lifting thresholds, standing duration, travel frequency), cognitive demands (decision-making speed, multitasking), and measurable productivity standards. Vague catch-alls like “must perform all duties as assigned” offer almost no protection. Specificity is what lets you identify exactly where a disability creates a barrier and what accommodation might bridge it.
The Accommodation Request Intake Form
An employee can start the interactive process with a verbal comment, an email, or a passing remark to a supervisor. No magic words are required, and you cannot ignore a request just because it wasn’t submitted on your form. Still, a well-designed intake form matters. It memorializes verbal requests and channels written ones into a consistent format.
A workable intake form captures:
- Employee name, job title, and supervisor
- Date the request was made (and the date it was received, if different)
- The functional limitation the employee is describing
- The accommodation the employee is requesting
- Signature and date
You may ask an employee to complete this form, but you must acknowledge and begin acting on the underlying request even before the paperwork comes back.
The Interactive Process Log
Once a request is on the table, the ADA calls for an “informal, interactive process” between employer and employee. Every meeting, phone call, and email exchange in that process should be logged with dates and a summary of what was discussed. Record each accommodation option considered, why any alternatives were rejected, and how the employee responded to each proposal.
This log is the evidence that matters most if a charge or lawsuit follows. Failing to engage in the dialogue at all, or letting it drift for weeks without movement, can create liability on its own. A well-kept log is what turns a he-said, she-said dispute into a documented timeline of good-faith engagement.
Medical Documentation Requests
When an employee’s disability or need for accommodation is not obvious, you can request medical documentation. The scope is tightly controlled. You may ask a healthcare provider to confirm three things:
- That the employee has an ADA-covered disability, including the nature, severity, and duration of the impairment
- How the impairment limits job performance
- Why the requested accommodation is needed, meaning how it connects to the functional limitation
You cannot request complete medical records, ask about diagnoses unrelated to the accommodation, or demand information beyond what is needed to evaluate the specific request. Any medical inquiry of a current employee has to be job-related and consistent with business necessity.
The most effective form for this purpose is a targeted letter to the provider that attaches your written job description, identifies the specific functions at issue, and asks pointed questions about the employee’s ability to perform them. A limited release signed by the employee lets you submit those questions directly. That approach tends to produce more usable answers than a generic medical certification form.
GINA Safe Harbor Language
Every form or letter you send requesting medical information—whether to the employee or to a healthcare provider—should include the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act safe harbor notice. GINA prohibits employers from requesting or requiring genetic information, which includes family medical history. If a doctor volunteers family history on a certification form and you did not include the safe harbor language, you can face a GINA violation even though you never asked for that information.
The EEOC’s recommended language reads:
“The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) prohibits employers and other entities covered by GINA Title II from requesting or requiring genetic information of an individual or family member of the individual, except as specifically allowed by this law. To comply with this law, we are asking that you not provide any genetic information when responding to this request for medical information. ‘Genetic information,’ as defined by GINA, includes an individual’s family medical history, the results of an individual’s or family member’s genetic tests, the fact that an individual or an individual’s family member sought or received genetic services, and genetic information of a fetus carried by an individual or an individual’s family member or an embryo lawfully held by an individual or family member receiving assistive reproductive services.”
Including this paragraph creates a safe harbor: if genetic information arrives anyway, the receipt is treated as inadvertent rather than a violation. Leaving it off any medical form is an easily avoided risk.
Approval Letters
When you approve an accommodation, document the specifics in writing. State what was requested, what was granted (which may differ from the original request), the effective date, and any conditions or review dates. If the accommodation is temporary, note the expected end date and how it will be reassessed. The letter goes to the employee, and a copy goes into the confidential medical file rather than the general personnel folder.
Denial Letters
Denials carry the most legal risk and require the most careful documentation. A defensible denial letter includes:
- The employee’s name and the date of the request, tying the letter to a specific interaction in the process log
- A description of the accommodation requested, specific enough that a third-party reader would understand what was at issue
- Confirmation that the interactive process occurred, referencing the meetings and exchanges
- The specific reason for denial, connected directly to the job: the accommodation would remove an essential function, create a significant safety risk, impose an undue hardship, or the employee failed to provide requested medical documentation
- Alternatives that were considered, even if none worked
- A named contact for follow-up, in case the employee has new information or a different proposal
Vague reasons like “not feasible” or “too expensive” invite challenges. The more specific and job-connected the explanation, the stronger the position.
If the denial rests on undue hardship, the law requires you to show significant difficulty or expense relative to your resources. The factors include the cost of the accommodation, the financial resources and size of the facility, the resources and size of the overall organization, and the impact on operations. Document each factor with actual numbers when possible. A large company claiming a $2,000 ergonomic desk is an undue hardship will not be taken seriously.
Records for Temporary Accommodations
Accommodations tied to temporary conditions need extra documentation discipline because the situation changes over time. When medical documentation identifies an expected recovery timeline, record that timeline and schedule a reassessment date. If the employee’s condition improves, worsens, or plateaus, the interactive process restarts: discuss current limitations, request updated medical documentation if needed, and decide whether to continue, modify, or end the accommodation.
Keep each round of updated documentation in the confidential file with clear dates. The goal is a record showing that every change in the accommodation tracked a change in the employee’s functional limitations rather than an arbitrary management decision.
Confidential Storage of Medical Files
Federal regulations require that all medical information collected through the accommodation process be maintained on separate forms, in separate medical files, and treated as confidential medical records. That means a physically or digitally separate file from the general personnel record. Supervisors and managers can be told only about necessary work restrictions and required accommodations. First aid and safety personnel can be informed if the disability might require emergency treatment. Government officials investigating compliance can request access. No one else in the company should be able to open those files.
In practice, restrict access to designated HR staff or compliance officers. Storing medical documentation in the same cabinet or shared drive as performance reviews and disciplinary records is a violation even if no one actually reads it. The separation has to be structural, not aspirational.
How Long to Keep the Records
Federal recordkeeping rules require employers to preserve personnel and employment records, including accommodation requests, for one year from the date the record was made or the date of the personnel action involved, whichever is later. When an employee is involuntarily terminated, retain that employee’s records for one year from the date of termination.
If a discrimination charge is filed under the ADA, you must preserve all records related to the charge until the matter reaches final disposition, meaning either the employee’s deadline to file suit has passed or any resulting litigation has concluded. Many employment attorneys recommend retaining accommodation files well past the one-year minimum, because charges are often filed months after the underlying events.
Response Timing and Why Dates Belong on Everything
The EEOC does not set a specific deadline for responding to accommodation requests. The standard is that employers should respond “expeditiously,” and unnecessary delays can themselves constitute an ADA violation. Simple requests, like a schedule change or a different desk, should be resolved in days rather than weeks. Complex requests that need medical documentation, job restructuring, or equipment procurement reasonably take longer, but the interactive process should begin immediately and move forward without unnecessary gaps. Date every form and every log entry. If a delay is ever questioned, the timeline in your file is what tells the story.
What Missing Documentation Actually Costs
Federal law caps compensatory and punitive damages for ADA violations by employer size:
- 15 to 100 employees: up to $50,000
- 101 to 200 employees: up to $100,000
- 201 to 500 employees: up to $200,000
- More than 500 employees: up to $300,000
These caps apply to compensatory damages for emotional distress and similar harms plus punitive damages combined. They do not cap back pay, front pay, or attorney’s fees, which can far exceed the statutory maximums. An employer who skipped the interactive process, kept no log, or stored medical records in an open personnel file is building the opposing attorney’s case. The forms and files described here are the primary evidence that the process worked the way the ADA requires.