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To define the term Reasonable Accommodation is not as easy as it looks below. Individuals as well as companies differ quite a lot in the effort and cost that they are willing to go to to assist disabled people do their work. Different disabilities differ in terms of what they need to be done to be accommodated; there is also an additional difference in terms of needs within the same disability group depending on the severity of the disability. There is often further debate around all these issues when an employee is not satisfactorily completing their work. Below are some theoretical guidelines.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Employers should reasonably accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. The aim of the accommodation is to reduce the impact of the impairment of the person’s capacity to fulfil the essential functions of a job. Employers may adopt the most cost-effective means that are consistent with effectively removing the barrier to a person being able to perform the job, and to enjoy equal access to the benefits and opportunities of employment.

Reasonable accommodation applies to applicants and employees with disabilities and may be required:

1. during the recruitment and selection processes;
2. in the working environment;
3. in the way work is usually done and evaluated and rewarded; and
4. in the benefits and privileges of employment.

The obligation to make reasonable accommodation may arise when an applicant or employee voluntarily discloses a disability related accommodation need or when such a need is reasonably self-evident to the employer. Employers must also accommodate employees when work or the work environment changes or impairment varies which affects the employee’s ability to perform the essential functions of the job.

The employer should consult the employee and, where practical technical experts, to establish appropriate mechanisms to accommodate the employee. The particular accommodation will depend on the individual, the impairment and its effect on the person, as well as on the job and the working environment.

Reasonable accommodation may be temporary or permanent, depending on the nature and extent of the disability. Examples of reasonable accommodation include:

1. adapting existing facilities to make them accessible;
2. adapting existing equipment or acquiring new equipment including computer hardware and software;
3. re-organising work stations;
4. changing training and assessment materials and systems;
5. restructuring jobs so that non-essential functions are re-assigned;
6. adjusting working time and leave;
7. providing readers, sign language interpreters, and
8. providing specialised supervision, training and support.

An employer may evaluate work performance against the same standards as other employees but the nature of the disability may require an employer to adapt the way performance is measured. The employer need not accommodate a qualified applicant or an employee with a disability if this would impose an unjustifiable hardship on the business of the employer.

Unjustifiable hardship is action that requires significant or considerable difficulty or expense and that would substantially harm the viability of the enterprise. This involves considering the effectiveness of the accommodation and the extent to which it would seriously disrupt the operation of the business.

An accommodation that imposes an unjustifiable hardship for one employer at a specific time may not do so for another or for the same employer at a different time.

THE BENEFITS OF EMPLOYING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The code of good practice relating to people with disabilities and employment (due to be published in 2000) needs to be understood and its concepts integrated into employment and recruitment policies and procedures. Overall it is clear that the legal requirements employers face, offer us an exciting opportunity to broaden the focus of business to recognize its potential to impact positively on society.

South African employment laws require that employers make a commitment to include people with disabilities in their teams, in line with trends throughout industrial societies across the world. This is an absolute acknowledgement that people who can make a contribution to the economy should not be marginalized. In this way, the work place will truly reflect society and its diversity.

Business for Goods research indicated that people with disabilities employed in the open labour market are more motivated and show greater loyalty to their employees than the average employee. This can clearly be seen in the profiles of Vodacom, Altitude Workforce Solutions and QualSA Healthcare. This is clearly a function of the limited careers that have been open up until now, as well as the pride and tenacity demonstrated when a vocational opportunity arises.

With the advent of the Employment Equity Act and the Skills Development Levies Act, there are major material advantages to the employment of people with disabilities, namely:

1. The drive to reflect your regional population profile in your workforce can only be achieved when an active policy of employing people with disabilities is pursued.
2. You will have greater success in claiming refunds from the Skills Development Levy paid to SETA if you have invested some of your resources in employing people with disabilities.

Additional grants are available from the National Skills Fund, which is focused on training the unemployed, particularly through learnerships. The grants are primarily for the previously disadvantaged. It should therefore be a simple matter to claim for the training of people with disabilities who are offered learnership contracts with your company.