Disability Accommodation Services

Please email benefits@ucmerced.edu to request an accommodation.

If you have any questions, feel free to send an email to benefits@ucmerced.edu, and we will connect you with your assigned benefits analyst. 

• Initiate the accommodation process
• Engage in a good-faith interactive process
• Provide supporting documentation to assist in understanding the scope of the employee’s functional limitation

To be "essential," the job function must meet at least one of the following criteria

• Removing the function would fundamentally change the position.
• A limited number of employees are available to do the function, as determined via the Interactive Process.
• The functions performed are highly specialized, and the employee is hired based upon expertise.

A functional limitation is the inability to perform an action or set of actions, either physical or mental, because of a physical or emotional restriction.

An employer does not have to provide a reasonable accommodation that would cause 'undue hardship' (significant difficulty or expense). Determining what is not reasonable would be based on an individual assessment of current circumstances. Under the ADA/FEHA, eliminating or removing essential functions of a job is not a reasonable accommodation. Under PWFA, eliminating or removing essential functions of a job temporarily may be required.

Workplace adjustments related to childcare and workplace adjustments to care for a family member with a medical condition are outside the scope of the benefits unit. Employees should work directly with their supervisors on these requests. 

There are no magic words! An employee may initiate the interactive process (IP) by requesting a reasonable accommodation from their supervisor/department chair/dean/Academic Personnel Office, or benefits analyst, by providing documentation listing functional limitations, or by expressing need for support or describing difficulty performing job functions due to a physical or mental condition. 

An employee may make the request orally or in writing. Every request is unique and is reviewed on an individual basis.

It is a violation of the ADA to not provide reasonable accommodation unless doing so would impose undue hardship. Not engaging in the IP can also be considered failure to accommodate.

Initiate the interactive process and notify a benefits analyst.

Please email benefits@ucmerced.edu to request an accommodation.

If you have any questions, feel free to send an email to benefits@ucmerced.edu, and we will connect you with your assigned benefits analyst.

Do not ask an employee about their disability or medical condition. This can infringe on the employee's privacy rights. An employee may tell you about their disability or medical condition, but it should never be solicited by the supervisor, and this information is always kept in strict confidence. Ask questions focused on the employee's limitations/restrictions as they relate to the essential job functions. You can share the employee's limitations/restrictions as they relate to the essential job duties with those that need to know that information as a part of their job responsibilities.

•If you become aware that a qualifying condition may be affecting the employee's ability to perform the essential functions of their job, you must initiate the interactive process and notify the benefits analyst.

•Engage with the employee in good faith in exploring reasonable accommodations.

•Determine if temporary accommodation can be granted pending any further information and/or a final determination if the requested accommodation is ‘reasonable’.

•Notify Benefits Analyst of any Reasonable Accommodations agreed to or any other conclusion of the process.

•Ensuring that approved reasonable accommodations are provided to the employee in an effective and timely fashion, which may include ongoing discussions, review, and new decisions.

UCM can deny a reasonable accommodation request for the following two reasons: 

• Granting the reasonable accommodation would cause an undue hardship for the employer: According to the ADA National Network, “‘Undue hardship’ is defined as an ‘action requiring significant difficulty or expense’ when considered in light of several factors. These factors include the nature and cost of the accommodation in relation to the size, resources, nature, and structure of the employer's operation.”
• Granting the reasonable accommodation would be a risk to the health and safety of others or property: Employers must be able to identify a specific safety risk and explain how the disability impacts the risk. Direct threat cannot be based on only generalized fears or assumptions. Even if a direct threat exists, employers must consider whether another reasonable accommodation will reduce this risk.

If UCM denies a reasonable accommodation for either of these reasons, the employer and employee should return to the interactive process to find an alternative.

In the majority of cases, accommodations for employees with disabilities involve low-cost or no-cost measures. The employee’s home department is responsible for funding accommodations. In the event the cost of accommodations exceeds the capacity for funding at the department level, the department should solicit the responsible Dean or Vice Chancellor for financial assistance.

Our accommodation team assists managers/supervisors and blind/low vision applicants and employees in the interactive process to explore and implement effective accommodations. 

Examples of accommodations for blindness/low vision

• Software - screen reading software, speech/voice to text, ZoomText
• Equipment - larger computer monitors, desktop magnifiers, locator dots, and/or large print keyboard labels for keyboard navigation

Our accommodation team assists managers/supervisors and deaf/hard of hearing applicants and employees in the interactive process to explore and implement effective accommodations.

Examples of accommodations for deaf/hard of hearing

• Qualified sign language interpreter, real-time captioning or CART, video relay interpreting, assistive listening devices, captioned media

Our accommodation team assists managers/supervisors and employees with mental health disabilities in the interactive process to explore and implement effective accommodations.

The term neurodiversity describes the range of how people experience and interact with the world. The term is often used to refer to autism but also includes other neurological or developmental conditions such as learning disabilities and ADHD.

Examples of potential accommodations

• Noise-canceling headphones, removal of distractions, private space for breaks or more frequent breaks, checklists, written instructions or manuals, task separation or dividing a task into smaller chunks, adjustment of communication methods, offering regular and concrete feedback, assistive technology, such as graphic organizers and word prediction software

Mobility impairment is a type of disability that includes upper or lower limb loss or disability, manual dexterity disability, and disability in coordination between different organs of the body. Disability in mobility can be either a congenital or acquired-with-age condition. This could also be the consequence of disease. People who have a broken skeletal structure also fall into this category of disability.

Examples of potential accommodations:

• Change of office or classroom, remote work, modified flexible schedule, assistive equipment or desk setup 
• TAPS contact and information

Examples of potential accommodations

• Additional bathroom breaks, breaks as needed – to eat and drink, use of water bottle in employee's work area, seated work/alternate sit and stand, modified or flexible schedule, transitional work.

A request for a remote or hybrid work accommodation is handled in the same way as any request for a reasonable accommodation. When an employee requests remote or hybrid work due to a disability, they should notify their supervisor about the need for an accommodation.

• The employee will need to submit documentation from their healthcare provider to the benefits analyst. This documentation should not include a diagnosis or confidential medical information. It should affirm that the employee has a disability and describe the specific functional limitations impacting their ability to work. For example, "needs to work from home" is not a functional limitation - it is a request for a specific accommodation.
• Any recommendation from the healthcare provider will be carefully considered; however, the determination of which reasonable accommodations to provide will be made by the department after engaging in the interactive process. The department is not required to remove essential functions on a permanent basis as a reasonable accommodation. Not all requests for remote or hybrid work will be granted, and the department may implement alternative accommodations.
• The university is committed to providing reasonable accommodations that enable employees to perform all thier essentail job functions effectively. The accommodation options are determined through the interactive process, which involves a collaborative and good-faith dialogue between the employee and the university.

A request for a service or assistance animal is treated the same way as any other reasonable accommodation. Please submit an online accommodation request webtorm and a benefits analyst will be in contact with you.

• A pet is a domestic animal, sufficiently tamed to live with an individual(s) and kept and cared for as a companion. An emotional support animal (ESA) may work, provide assistance, or perform physical tasks for an individual with a disability. ESAs are not trained to perform specific tasks directly related to an individual’s disability; instead, the animal’s owner derives a sense of well-being, safety, calm, or comfort from the animal’s companionship and presence. They are not considered Service Animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
• A service dog is one that is individually trained to do work or perform a task for an individual with a disability, including physical, sensory (deaf or blind), psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. The work or tasks performed by the service dog must be directly related to the individual’s disability.