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-: There are a couple of sources.
One is, there is a domestically-based organization
called the Disability:IN.
They're formally known as the
United States Business Leadership Network.
And the companies that belong to Disability:IN
are very disability-progressive.
So if you looked at the Disability:IN website
and you saw that those companies were part of the USBLN
or the Disability:IN organization,
then you would know that they were progressive,
and those would be specific organizations I would target.
Again, another list that I would target is DiversityInc,
and I would look at their
top 10 disability-friendly companies or corporations.
And, again, I would target them.
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So some of the best practices
that we see these corporations embracing then is,
first of all, a centralized team to provide accommodations.
So you would have a subject-matter expert.
You would have a team that triages
all the requests for accommodations.
You would see that that team has technology backup
of a accommodation tracking system
to ensure that no information is lost
during the accommodation process.
Oftentime we find that they have a centralized fund.
Another is in really more of the return to work realm.
And, again, that's ensuring that
as soon as somebody is medically stable,
that the employer keeps that person
engaged with the organization.
And that even if they come back part-time
and they're accommodated, initially, part-time,
they're sort of weaned back into their old jobs.
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The first thing that I would do is, again,
educate myself about the internal policies and practices.
Oftentimes, again, the more progressive corporations
are going to have an appeals process,
so you wanna take advantage of that appeals process.
And perhaps your supervisors
did not agree with
the type of accommodation, and perhaps
it's just their familiarity with accommodations,
in general, in what may or may not work.
So it needs to be kicked up to the next level.
So I think, first of all, I would definitely follow
the internal hierarchy and the internal processes,
and if there's an appeals process,
I would wanna take advantage of that.
After you've exhausted those processes,
then you can file a complaint through
the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
the EEOC.
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JAN, the Job Accommodation Network, we also offer, at times,
it's just a matter of, again,
not understanding what kind of accommodations would work.
So, as an employee, or even as an applicant,
what I may do is, if I'm talking to a recruiter
or a hiring manager that's not knowledgeable
about accommodations, and I'm trying to offer them
alternatives in what may or may not work.
Then perhaps what we can do is call JAN
or use our online chat, and we can do that together
with both the employee as well as the supervisor
and educate them both as to the rights and responsibilities
under the ADA, but also propose solutions.
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