Employment-Related and ADA Definitions

Employee:  An individual employed by an employer.

Employer (Private):  A person engaged in an industry affecting commerce that has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such person.

Employer (Public): All public entities {i.e., state or local government}, regardless of the size of the workforce, are prohibited from discriminating in their employment practices against qualified individuals with disabilities.

Individual with a Disability:  A person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual or a record of such an impairment or is regarded as having such an impairment.

Qualified Individual with a Disability:  A person with a disability who satisfies the requisite skill, experience, education and other job-related requirements of the employment position such individual holds or desires, and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of such position.

Essential Functions of a Job: Fundamental job duties of the employment position the individual with a disability holds or desires. The term ``essential functions'' does not include the marginal functions of the position.

A job function may be considered essential for any of several reasons, including but not limited to the following:
 
i. The function may be essential because the reason the position exists is to perform that function;
ii. The function may be essential because of the limited number of employees available among whom the performance of that job function can be distributed; and/or
iii. The function may be highly specialized so that the incumbent in the position is hired for his or her expertise or ability to perform the particular function.


Evidence of whether a particular function is essential includes, but is not limited to:

i. The employer's judgment as to which functions are essential;
ii. Written job descriptions prepared before advertising or interviewing applicants for the job;
iii. The amount of time spent on the job performing the function;
iv. The consequences of not requiring the incumbent to perform the function;
v. The terms of a collective bargaining agreement;
vi. The work experience of past incumbents in the job; and/or
vii. The current work experience of incumbents in similar jobs.

Marginal Functions of a Job:  Job duties that are not absolutely necessary for the job being performed.

Interactive Process:  An informal dialogue between the employer and employee used to identify the precise limitations resulting from the disability and determine potential reasonable accommodations that could overcome those limitations.

Reasonable Accommodation:  A modification or adjustment to a job, the work environment, or the way things usually are done that enables a qualified individual with a disability to enjoy an equal employment opportunity.

Direct Threat:  Significant risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of the individual or others that cannot be eliminated or reduced by reasonable accommodation.

Undue Hardship:  An action that requires "significant difficulty or expense" in relation to the size of the employer, the resources available, and the nature of the operation. The concept of undue hardship includes any action that is unduly costly, extensive, substantial, disruptive, or would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the business. Accordingly, whether a particular accommodation will impose an undue hardship must always be determined on a case-by- case basis. 
ADA and Employment-Related Definitions	                                                                     Page 2 of 2



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