University of New Hampshire employees who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities may be eligible for reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Amended 2008 (ADA).
Reasonable accommodation is 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. An equal employment opportunity means an opportunity to attain the same level of performance or to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment as are available to an average similarly-situated employee without a disability. Reasonable accommodations are generally a modification to a policy, practice or procedure that may not cause an undue burden on the employer.
Please note that requesting an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation is for your own health condition. In addition, to be eligible to ADA, you must have one or more activity of daily living being impacted at the time of the request. If you do not meet the above, speaking with your supervisor for other assistance would be your next steps.
To request a reasonable accommodation for a chronic condition:
- Complete the Reasonable Accommodation Employee Request Form
- Have the provider who is treating you for this condition(s) complete the Attending Physician's Statement.
- Meet with the EEO/ADA Compliance Officer. The job description, essential job functions and functional limitations the employee is experiencing are discussed.
Review of documentation:
The EEO/ADA Compliance Officer reviews the reasonable accommodation request and medical documentation to determine if the individual qualifies as a person with a disability under the ADA
Implementation of reasonable accommodation(s):
- The EEO/ADA Compliance Officer engages in an interactive process with the employee and supervisor to finalize accommodations that will assist the employee in performing the essential functions of their job.
- Interim accommodations may be made available as needed until the full interactive process is complete.
- The employee’s department is responsible for implementing the accommodations.
- The EEO/ADA Compliance Officer will check in with the employee and supervisor on a regular basis for the first year to determine the effectiveness of the accommodations.
To request an exception to a USNH Travel Policy for a chronic or temporary medical condition
- Review the Internal Procedure for requesting an exception to the USNH Travel Policy
Related Forms
Health Care Provider
Pregnancy Accommodation Request
Religious Accommodation Request Form
Request for Reasonable Accommodations
UNH Exception to USNH Travel Policy
To complete a fillable form:
- Open the form.
- Click on "open with different viewer" (located in upper right hand corner of the screen) and then "OK" This will highlight the fillable sections of the form. Note: this may save to your downloads arrow.
- Select "Open with Adobe Acrobat 8.0” or “save” the form first to your computer (default).
- Complete the form and save. Print the Healthcare Provider Release Form to sign the document. Original signature is needed.
- Return forms to the EEO/ADA Compliance Officer, Civil Rights and Equity office, 105 Main Street, Thompson Hall 305, Durham, NH or fax to (603) 862-2936.
- The accommodation request documents contain protected medical information – do not email.
Please contact Civil Rights and Equity if you have any technical difficulties. You can certainly just print the form and fill it out by hand.
For further information or to report any ADA compliance concerns please refer to our Disability and Access Resources or contact:
Lauren Haywood
EEO/ADA Compliance Officer
Civil Rights & Equity Office
lauren.haywood@unh.edu
(603) 862-2929
TTY Users: 7-1-1 (Relay NH)
