1H04 Reasonable Accommodation to Physical and Mental Limitations

As a matter of nondiscrimination, contractors must make reasonable accommodation to the physical and mental limitations when requested by qualified disabled veterans unless they can demonstrate that such accommodation would impose an undue hardship. In assessing undue hardship, contractors may consider factors such as financial costs and interference with the ability of other employees to do their jobs. As a matter of affirmative action, if an employee who is a known disabled veteran is having significant difficulty performing their job and it is reasonable to conclude that the performance problem may be related to the disability, then the contractor must confidentially notify the employee of the performance problem and inquire whether it is related to the employee’s disability. If the answer is yes, the contractor must also confidentially inquire whether the employee needs a reasonable accommodation.

Appendix A to the VEVRAA regulations at 41 CFR Part 60-300, Guidelines on a Contractor’s Duty to Provide Reasonable Accommodation, provides additional information about the scope of the “undue hardship” defense and examples of reasonable accommodations, among other things. Though not required, Investigators should encourage contractors to develop and use written procedures to process requests for reasonable accommodations. For more on reasonable accommodation, please refer to Section 1G04 of the FCCM.