“Essential functions” are the fundamental job duties that you must be able to perform on your own or with the help of a reasonable accommodation. An employer can refuse to hire you if you cannot perform these duties on your own or with the help of a reasonable accommodation. An employer cannot refuse to hire you, however, because your disability prevents you from performing duties that are not essential to the job. An employer is not required to reallocate essential functions of a job as a reasonable accommodation.
For example: a grocery store bagger develops a disability that makes her unable to lift any item weighing more than five pounds. Since a bagger's main job duty is placing items into bags and handing filled bags to customers or placing them in grocery carts, the store does not have to remove its fifteen-pound lifting requirement as an accommodation, since being able to lift bags of groceries is an essential function of a bagger's job.