DOL Releases Tool to Provide Ideas for Disability Accommodations

The U.S. Department of Labor has released a new tool – the Situations and Solutions Finder – that provides more than 700 accommodation ideas for workers with disabilities and their employers.

The tool allows employers to enter a keyword and/or select from Disabilities, Limitations, and/or Occupations drop-down lists to search the database, which is drawn from examples of workplace accommodations that have been shared with the Job Accommodation Network, which is part of the US DOL’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. The USDOL cautions that not all examples in the Finder may be appropriate for every person or workplace, but it will provide suggestions that perhaps employers and employees have not considered. Employers should remember that, in considering reasonable accommodations, they may not only address those requested by the employee, but must also consider others – and they should now be aware that employees may utilize the tool to come up with unusual or creative ideas that should be seriously considered.