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For Employees

Reasonable Accommodation Request Guidance

The Process Made Plain

Asking for an accommodation under the ADA, FEHA, or your employer's policy is a process, not a single conversation. We help you understand the steps, draft the request, and navigate the interactive process from request to outcome.

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What This Is

A Senior HR Walk-Through of the Accommodation Process

Federal law (ADA) and California law (FEHA) both require employers to engage in an interactive process when an employee requests a reasonable accommodation. The protections are real, but the process is unfamiliar to most employees, the documentation requirements catch people off guard, and back-and-forth with HR can feel adversarial when it should not.

We are HR practitioners who have run this process from the employer side. We help you make a clear written request, prepare for the interactive process meeting, supply the right medical documentation, and respond if the first answer is no. Most accommodations that are denied at first move forward with a stronger request.

What's Included

Accommodation Request Engagement

  • Plain-language overview of how ADA, FEHA, and your employer's policy interact
  • Help drafting a clear written accommodation request
  • Guidance on what medical documentation is reasonable for your employer to ask for, and what is not
  • Preparation for the interactive process meeting with HR
  • Strategy if the initial accommodation is denied: alternative accommodations, appeals, escalation paths
  • Honest read on whether the situation may benefit from legal counsel, particularly if denial appears retaliatory or pretextual
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"No" to a first request is not the end of the process. It is often the middle.

Common Questions

Accommodation Process Questions

Once you request an accommodation, your employer is generally required to engage in a back-and-forth conversation about your needs, the limitations of your role, and what reasonable adjustments could work. It is not a single yes-or-no. It is a structured discussion, and how you participate in it shapes the outcome.

Typically a note from your treating provider describing the limitation and the kinds of accommodations that would help. Your employer can ask for documentation that confirms the need; they generally cannot ask for your full medical record. We help you and your provider get the documentation right the first time so the process moves forward.

Denial is common at the first request and often reversible. We help you understand the reason, evaluate whether an alternative accommodation is reasonable, and decide whether to escalate within the company or raise the concern externally. If the denial appears pretextual or retaliatory, we will tell you that and help you decide whether to engage legal counsel.

Retaliation for requesting an accommodation is unlawful, but it does happen, and it often shows up as suddenly worsening performance reviews, exclusion from projects, or a performance plan that did not exist before the request. If you are seeing those patterns, document everything and bring us in early so we can give you an honest read and help you decide on next steps.

Related Services

If the Process Goes Sideways

When accommodation denial leads to a performance plan, separation conversations, or formal escalation, we can help you navigate the next stage too.

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Take the Next Step

Make the Request the Right Way

A 30-minute consultation costs nothing. Tell us what you need and we will walk you through the process.

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Because all progress begins on Neutral Ground.