Five questions with the employee accommodations coordinator

As the university's employee accommodations coordinator, Rachel Large receives more than 100 inquiries each year from faculty and staff about modifications to their work processes or workspace for disability, pregnancy or religious reasons. Some are for temporary symptoms, some are to address a situation that likely won't reverse itself. Large has the final say on accommodations, for several reasons: to ensure there is an appropriate review and analysis of the employee's position and the requested accommodation, consistency across ISU, compliance with applicable laws and standards and, if needed, follow-up or modification. 

Critical to the process are the discussions among Large, the employee and manager. Finding an effective and reasonable accommodation may require weeks or, in certain situations, even months of discussions, research and experimentation. For a variety of reasons, sometimes a specific request for accommodation may not be able to be provided, however, a different solution may be identified.

"I don't like putting people out to sea without pulling them back in again to see how things are going or if adjustments are needed," she said. "So when I put something in place, I set a date to check in later with the employee and their manager."

Give us examples of accommodations you've recommended.

Many know there are accommodations for a disability -- such as a hearing loss, neurodivergence, debilitating headaches or recovery from chemotherapy. I also work with pregnancy accommodations (required by the federal 2023 Pregnant Workers Fairness Act) and religious accommodations. Some fairly typical accommodations might be:

• Switching out or filtering fluorescent lights
• Using a white noise machine
• Turning on tools in Microsoft software, such as captioning, text to speech or speech to text
• Modifying how an employee's duties are performed
• Taking time off from work (federal Family and Medical Leave Act preserves an eligible employee's job)
• Asking the supervisor to confirm work assignments in writing
• Adopting strategies for moving more frequently during the day or, inversely, sitting for a few minutes throughout the day
• Modifying an employee's workstation

Are there requests you can't help with?

A few, yes. Probably the biggest one is special parking requests. It's a legitimate request for accommodation; I just don't have that authority. Employees need to work directly with the parking office. Others are:

• Long-term disability: when an employee no longer can work or work their full schedule and needs funds to supplement their income. This actually is an employee benefit, so I get them connected to the UHR benefits team.
• A health condition that doesn't rise to the standard set forth in the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, which defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity.

But I always want to talk to the person before I make the decision that their request doesn't fall under my purview and so I can help connect them to the right person. If I can, I still want to offer some help, for example, maybe there's an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) resource that can help them.

Who pays for the accommodations you recommend?

It falls on the college or department that hires or employs the individual. I have to help them with what funds they have. If there are larger funding needs, we collaborate with the division for support. 

So, I'm always looking for affordable accommodations and creative solutions. Webinars by the Job Accommodation Network are a great resource for me. I find that employees are open to trying different things. I'm happy to share the options that I've researched, as well as brainstorm other creative solutions.

Besides you and the employee, who's involved in the assessment?

The employee's manager and, depending on the request, the employee's health care provider. The work unit's HR delivery team also is made aware of the accommodation as it's implemented since, in some cases, they may be able to assist the manager, for example redistributing work tasks. 

It's important to clarify that any medical information, including the diagnosis, is confidential from all Iowa State employees, including the employee's manager. I don't share that information. I reframe the conversation so we only talk about the accommodation and why it will help an employee. 

What if I'm not sure my situation rises to the level of an accommodation?

When someone's thinking about accommodations, either they recently were diagnosed and they're not sure how they're going to be supported, or they're struggling and they need help, soon.

Don't hesitate to reach out. I'd much prefer someone get in touch with me before things get to a point where they're unhappy in their job and they leave because they don't feel supported. I know many are anxious about taking that first step, but it's the greatest place to start. I love to talk to people to see if I can help them. Send an email to uhrdar@iastate.edu and I'll call you back. After that, the next step might be filling out some forms.