Title I of the ADA require an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment, except when such accommodation would cause an undue hardship. The duty to provide reasonable accommodation is a fundamental statutory requirement because of the nature of discrimination faced by individuals with disabilities. Although many individuals with disabilities can apply for and perform jobs without any reasonable accommodations, there are workplace barriers that keep others from performing jobs that they could do with some form of accommodation.
Reasonable accommodation removes workplace barriers for individuals with disabilities.
It establishes a minimum labor standard with regard to leaves of absence for family or medical reasons, for employers with 50 employees or more. An FMLA serious health condition is an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care, or continuing treatment by a health care provider. During the FMLA leave, the employer must maintain the employee's existing level of coverage under a group health plan. At the end of FMLA leave, an employer must take an employee back into the same or an equivalent job. Some of the questions which arise in use of the FMLA that relate to the functioning of rehabilitation professionals, is in the interplay of FMLA leave with accommodation and return to work efforts.