Disability Accommodation in the Workplace

Integrated Disability & Absence Management (IDAM) Services is committed to assisting employees who may have impairment from a medical condition or disability with accommodation at work if they are having difficulty performing the essential functions of their job. Berkeley Lab complies with both the federal and state statutes that prohibit disability discrimination in the workplace and provides reasonable accommodations as they relate to enabling a qualified individual with a disability to perform essential job functions. A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a job or the work environment.

Reasonable accommodation may include making existing facilities and equipment accessible, providing qualified readers or interpreters, adapting training materials, modifying work schedules, restructuring jobs, and reassignment to a vacant position. A reasonable accommodation does not remove essential job functions of a position. Our goal is to enable employees to work at their fullest capacity.

For more information, please review Berkeley Lab’s Reasonable Accommodation policy or the appropriate collective bargaining agreement. Should medical accommodation be needed during business travel, please review Appendix I of Berkeley Lab’s Travel Policy and Reference Guide.

Services of the program:

Provide consultative services to employees and supervisors regarding disability issues impacting an employee’s ability to work.
Facilitate the interactive process for reasonable accommodation requests in compliance with federal law (Americans with Disabilities Act), state law (Fair Employment and Housing Act), Berkeley Lab policies, and collective bargaining agreements.
Provide a process for returning employees back to work quickly and safely following both work-related and non-work-related illnesses and injuries.

Do you need disability accommodation in your workplace?

You may initiate a request for medical accommodation by sending an email to the IDAM team at idam@lbl.gov. The IDAM team will then send you a medical accommodation packet via email for both you and your healthcare provider to complete and return. You can fax the completed packet back to our confidential fax at (510) 486-7070. Never disclose private health information via email.

Next steps after submitting the Employee Questionnaire:

The IDAM team will request your supervisor to provide a copy of your position description and the PEM form outlining the Physical Environmental Mental demands of the job.
Your position description, PEM form, and the Certification of Healthcare Provider form will be provided to you in a packet to give to your healthcare provider.
Your healthcare provider reviews your position description and PEM form, completes the Certification of Healthcare Provider form indicating any temporary or permanent work restrictions and submits the medical certification form to the IDAM team via confidential fax to (510) 486-7070.
Once your Employee Questionnaire and Certification of Healthcare Provider forms are received by the IDAM team, the staff will evaluate the medical documentation and facilitate the Interactive Process.

Interactive Process

The Interactive Process is a dialogue between the employee and supervisor about possible options for reasonably accommodating the employee’s functional impairment based on a documented disability.
Parties involved in the Interactive Process include the employee, the supervisor, the HR Division Partner, and the IDAM team.
To initiate the Interactive Process, submit an email request to the IDAM team at idam@lbl.gov.
IDAM staff will provide the employee with a packet containing the employee’s position description, PEM form (outlining the Physical, Environmental Mental demands of a job), and the Certification of Healthcare Provider form for their healthcare provider to review, complete and submit to IDAM. This packet enables the employee’s healthcare provider to indicate any temporary or permanent work restrictions.
Once the employee’s disability-related limitations are documented by their healthcare provider, an Interactive Process meeting is scheduled to discuss reasonable accommodations that can be made to meet both the needs of the employee to perform their essential job functions and the needs of the department/division.
The Interactive Process is fluid and ongoing; once a reasonable accommodation has been identified, IDAM staff will determine if the accommodation continues to be effective.
The employee who has been given reasonable accommodation must report any issues or problems with the accommodation to the supervisor and/or to IDAM so these can be addressed.

Parking

Workers may request a temporary parking accommodation permit for up to 30 days, as described below.
- STEP 1: A worker seeking temporary accommodation parking will contact the Integrated Disability & Absence Management team (IDAM). After IDAM completes the interactive process, IDAM may provide authorization for temporary accommodation parking, if warranted, to Site Access.
- STEP 2: The worker will visit the Site Access Office in B-65A. Site Access will provide a temporary accommodation parking permit.
- STEP 3: This permit provides the worker with temporary accommodation parking for up to 30 days.
If temporary accommodation parking is needed beyond 30 days, the worker should work with their health care provider to obtain a disabled person parking placard from the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Note: Temporary accommodation permit holders are NOT authorized to use designated disabled accessible parking spaces per California Vehicle Code.
Pregnant Employees: To comply with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, IDAM will assist with a temporary parking accommodation for pregnant employees. Please contact IDAM.

Reassignment

During the interactive process, LBNL will:

Look for vacant, comparable positions (in terms of pay, benefits, and responsibilities)
If no vacant, comparable positions are available for which the employee is qualified with or without reasonable accommodation, look for other positions (can be a lower grade or lower pay).
There is no requirement to create a new position if one is not available.
A disabled employee is entitled to preferential consideration of reassignment to a vacant position over other qualified applicants and existing employees, but the employer is not required to ignore a bona fide seniority system.

Medical Separation

Employees unable to satisfactorily perform essential, assigned functions of their positions due to a disability or medical condition may be separated from employment. Prior to medical separation, Berkeley Lab will engage in the interactive process.

For more information, please review Berkeley Lab’s Medical Separation policy or the appropriate collective bargaining agreement.