Workplace Accommodations Under the ADA: How to Request and Appeal

To request an ADA accommodation at work, tell your employer — a supervisor, HR, or any manager — that you need a change at work because of a medical condition. That’s it. You don’t have to use the phrase “reasonable accommodation,” cite the Americans with Disabilities Act, or fill out a form. Saying “I’m having trouble getting to work on time because of medical treatments, and I need some flexibility” is enough to trigger your employer’s legal duty to respond.¹

The process is more straightforward than most people expect. Knowing what to say, what to put in writing, and what your employer can and cannot ask for in return puts you in a much stronger position from the first conversation.

How to Make the Request

A verbal request is legally valid. You can walk into your supervisor’s office and start the process out loud. But putting the request in writing is one of the smartest moves you can make. Documentation protects you if there’s a dispute later about what you asked for and when.

A short email works. In it:

Say you’re requesting a workplace change because of a medical condition or limitation. You do not have to name your diagnosis.
Describe how the condition affects your work — the specific tasks, times, or situations where you’re running into trouble.
Suggest one or two accommodations that would help.
Ask for a response and offer to discuss it further.

Keep a copy. If you made the request verbally first, send a follow-up email summarizing the conversation (“Confirming what we discussed this morning…”) so there’s a written record.

Your employer may ask you to fill out its own accommodation request form or write a memo confirming the request. That’s fine, and cooperating with the paperwork helps. Even so, keep your own copies of everything you submit.

What Counts as an Accommodation

A reasonable accommodation is any change to the work environment, the job itself, or the way things are normally done that lets you perform your essential job functions. That covers a wide range: accessible facilities and equipment, modified or part-time schedules, ergonomic tools, screen readers or interpreters, permission to keep medication at your desk, modified break schedules, adjustments to attendance policies for disability-related absences, and sometimes remote work or reassignment of minor tasks.² You don’t need to know the “right” accommodation before you ask. Suggesting one gets the conversation started; the specifics get worked out with your employer.

Whether the ADA Covers Your Situation

Title I of the ADA applies to employers with 15 or more employees.³ For the accommodation duty to apply to you, two things must be true: you have a disability as the law defines it, and you can perform the essential functions of your job with or without an accommodation.

The ADA defines a disability as a physical or mental condition that substantially limits a major life activity — walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, concentrating, communicating, working, and more. You also qualify if you have a record of such a condition (like cancer in remission) or if your employer treats you as though you do.³ The threshold is lower than many people assume: the condition doesn’t have to be permanent or severe, episodic conditions like epilepsy or bipolar disorder count when active, and the analysis ignores the benefits of medication or assistive devices.⁴

What Your Employer Can Ask For

When your disability and need for accommodation are obvious — you use a wheelchair and your workstation is too low, for example — your employer generally cannot demand medical proof. When the disability or the connection to the requested accommodation isn’t apparent, your employer can ask for reasonable documentation from a healthcare provider.

“Reasonable” has limits. Your employer can ask only for what’s needed to confirm you have an ADA-qualifying condition and need the accommodation because of it. That usually means:

Confirmation that you have a qualifying condition
A description of how it limits specific job tasks
Whether the limitation is temporary or ongoing
Suggested accommodations from your provider

Your employer cannot demand your full medical records, ask about unrelated conditions, or require you to disclose a specific diagnosis.⁵ Any medical information the employer collects has to be kept in a file separate from your regular personnel records and treated as confidential, with narrow exceptions for supervisors who need to know about work restrictions, first aid personnel if emergency treatment might be needed, and government investigators.⁶

One caution: if the disability isn’t obvious and your employer asks for documentation, refusing to provide it can cost you the right to the accommodation.

What Happens After You Ask

Once you make the request, your employer is supposed to engage in what the law calls the “interactive process” — a back-and-forth conversation to figure out what will work. You explain your limitations, the employer explains the job’s requirements and any operational constraints, and together you land on something effective.⁵

A few things to expect:

Your employer must participate in good faith. Ignoring your request, dragging things out, or refusing to discuss alternatives can itself be an ADA violation.
You do not always get your first choice. The employer can offer a different accommodation as long as it’s effective. If you asked for a standing desk and a sit-stand converter serves the same purpose, the employer can pick the cheaper option.
You have to cooperate too. Provide the documentation the employer reasonably asks for, and stay engaged if the first idea doesn’t work out.

No federal rule sets a specific number of days for a response, but the expectation is promptness. Unnecessary delays, especially on straightforward requests, can be treated as a failure to accommodate.

When an Employer Can Say No

An employer doesn’t have to provide an accommodation that would create an “undue hardship” — significant difficulty or expense measured against the employer’s actual resources. The factors include the cost of the accommodation, the size of the business, the impact on operations, and the relationship between the specific facility and the larger organization.²

The defense is calibrated to the employer’s real financial picture. What might be an undue hardship for a 20-person nonprofit could be routine for a large corporation. And even when one specific accommodation is too costly, the employer still has to consider less expensive alternatives before saying no.

Retaliation Is Illegal

Your employer cannot punish you for requesting an accommodation. The ADA prohibits retaliation against anyone who exercises rights under the law, including requesting accommodations, filing a complaint, or participating in an investigation. Intimidation, threats, and interference are also illegal.⁷

Retaliation goes beyond outright firing. Demotion, reassignment to worse shifts, exclusion from projects, sudden negative performance reviews that don’t match your actual work, and a hostile environment designed to push you out can all count. If adverse action follows shortly after your request, the timing itself is worth documenting. Keep records of your request, the response, and any changes in how you’re treated.

If Your Request Is Denied

A denial isn’t necessarily the end. Ask for the reason in writing — the reason shapes your next move.

If the employer said your documentation was insufficient, go back to your healthcare provider for more specific information about your limitations and how the accommodation addresses them. If the employer said your particular request would be too disruptive or expensive, propose alternatives. The interactive process often stalls because both sides get locked onto one solution when several would work.

Check whether your employer has a formal appeal process for accommodation denials. Larger organizations often do, and using it adds to your documentation if you escalate later. When internal options are exhausted and you believe your employer has violated the ADA, the next step is filing a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Filing a Charge With the EEOC

Before you can file an ADA lawsuit in federal court, you generally must first file a charge with the EEOC. There’s no filing fee.

You typically have 180 calendar days from the discriminatory act to file. That extends to 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a similar anti-discrimination law, and most states have one. Weekends and holidays count, but if your deadline lands on a weekend or holiday, you get until the next business day.⁸ Miss the deadline and you lose the claim.

The process starts through the EEOC’s online Public Portal, where you submit an inquiry and schedule an intake interview. You can also contact your nearest EEOC field office directly.⁹ After investigation, the EEOC issues a Notice of Right to Sue. You can also request that notice after 180 days have passed since filing, even if the investigation isn’t finished. Once you receive it, you have exactly 90 days to file your lawsuit.¹⁰

If Your Request Is Pregnancy-Related

Accommodations tied to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition may be covered by the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act rather than, or in addition to, the ADA. The PWFA also applies to employers with 15 or more employees and uses a similar interactive process, but it covers conditions that don’t meet the ADA’s disability threshold — morning sickness, more frequent bathroom breaks, lifting restrictions, and time off for prenatal appointments among them. Under the PWFA, an employer cannot force you onto leave if another reasonable accommodation would let you keep working.¹¹

Free Help Before You Ask

If you’re not sure what accommodation to request or how to phrase it, call the Job Accommodation Network before you approach your employer. JAN is a free, confidential service funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. Its consultants have handled nearly every scenario and can suggest options you might not have considered. Reach them at (800) 526-7234 or through live chat on their website.¹²

The EEOC also answers questions about your rights under the ADA and the PWFA. If you think your employer has already violated the law, contacting your nearest field office early helps you avoid missing the filing deadline.⁸

1
ADA National Network. What Is the Process to Request a Reasonable Accommodation in Employment
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 12111 – Definitions
3
ADA.gov. Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act
4
ADA.gov. ADA Amendments Act of 2008 Questions and Answers
5
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 12112 – Discrimination
7
GovInfo. 42 USC 12203 – Prohibition Against Retaliation and Coercion
8
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits for Filing a Charge
9
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Charge of Discrimination
10
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Lawsuit
11
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Summary of Key Provisions of Final Rule to Implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
12
Job Accommodation Network. JAN Home Page