Disability Related Definitions

Person with a disability

A person who has a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more of life's major activities, such as walking, hearing, etc., has a record or history of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such impairment.

In addition, a person who is associated with someone with a disability is protected from employment discrimination based on unwarranted assumptions (e.g., that the person will have to miss work to care for a disabled individual).

Qualified employee with a disability

An applicant or employee who has the skills, abilities and experience to perform the essential functions of a position with or without a reasonable accommodation

Essential job functions

Those fundamental tasks of a job, reasonably defined by the employer.

Reasonable accommodations

Those changes in facilities or policies that enable an otherwise qualified person to perform the essential job functions. An accommodation is considered reasonable and is required if it effectively allows the person to perform the essential job tasks, while not placing an undue hardship on the employer financially or operationally.