Julie Su Acting United States Secretary of Labor | Official Website
The U.S. Department of Labor has introduced a new tool to assist workers with disabilities and their employers in identifying potential workplace accommodations. This announcement coincides with National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Named the "Situations and Solutions Finder," the tool features over 700 examples of workplace accommodations. These examples are derived from users of the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a service provided by the department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). The database includes contributions from various organizations, covering multiple industries and sectors. Users can filter and save results based on disability, limitation, or occupation.
Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Taryn M. Williams emphasized the importance of accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). "Accommodations are at the heart of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and they’re about maximizing productivity for workers with disabilities, plain and simple," Williams stated. She added that this resource allows both employers and employees to learn from others' experiences to ensure disabled workers have what they need to perform effectively.
The ADA mandates that employers provide reasonable accommodations for disabled applicants and employees unless doing so would cause undue hardship. While not all accommodation examples in the Situations and Solutions Finder will be suitable for every individual or workplace, common patterns exist to help employers and workers evaluate options.
Funded by ODEP, JAN is a leading source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and other disability employment issues. A survey of JAN data from employers between 2019 and 2024 indicated that nearly half of reported accommodations could be implemented at no cost. For those requiring a one-time expense, the median cost was found to be $300.
For more information, visit AskJAN.org or dol.gov/ODEP.
