Remote employees have the same right to a medical accommodation as anyone in the office, but the cues a manager relies on disappear at home. A clear process, agreed before the next request arrives, keeps your people supported and your managers confident.
Around 30 million Americans have work-limiting health conditions, which is roughly one in eight of all working-age people. Employers generally try to support these employees as much as possible, so it’s common to accept requests for special accommodations that help people do their best work.
However, this doesn’t mean that the process for handling accommodation requests is straightforward. It can involve delicate conversations about sensitive topics, and mishandling those conversations could cause compliance issues. Things become even more challenging when you add other factors, such as dealing with remote workers.
How remote work can create friction
Employee accommodations involve a great degree of trust. Employees need to trust they won’t feel discriminated against; employers need to know they’re not being exploited. As a senior HR consultant, I’ve seen how that trust can be strained on remote teams.
For example, I worked with a manager who had a direct report working on a hybrid basis. The employee had a medical condition that required regular time away from their desk. During in-office days, the employee could tell their teammates that they were taking a short break, and all parties were satisfied with the arrangement.
However, on days when the employee worked from home, their manager began to feel concerned about how often they took these breaks. With an in-office employee, it would be easy to perform a simple check-in. When someone works remotely, you have to simply trust that they’re honoring the agreement. The situation began to cause some friction.
We brought both parties together and realized the real issue here was communication. The two agreed on a check-in system where the employee let the manager know whenever they were stepping away, which helped rebuild trust between the two parties while ensuring that the employee still had the support they needed.
Do remote employees have the same right to medical accommodations?
In most cases, yes. Under the ADA, a remote employee has the same right to a reasonable accommodation as someone in the office, and their request goes through the same process. What changes is the practical side of handling it:
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Requests can arrive any way. An employee doesn’t need to use the words “accommodation” or “ADA,” and the EEOC says a request can come in conversation or through any other mode of communication. On a remote team, a chat message or a comment on a video call can be enough to start the process.
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The accommodation may look different at home. Some needs, such as a place to rest, may already be met at home. Others still need the employer’s help. The EEOC’s pandemic-planning guidance says an accommodation the employee had at the workplace should carry over to telework, absent undue hardship. Its example is an employer issuing a laptop with a screen reader to an accountant who used one in the office.
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Medical details need the same protection. Employers must keep medical information confidential and in separate medical files. When requests come in by chat or email, make sure those details go to HR and stay out of team channels and shared drives.
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The employee’s state may add protections. A remote employee in another state may also be covered by that state’s disability law, and some states go further than the ADA. California’s protections, for example, apply to employers with five or more employees, compared with 15 under the ADA.
As with all such issues, it’s crucial that you consult an HR compliance expert to ensure your policy meets all local, state and federal requirements. This is especially important if your remote workers are based in another state.
How to build an employee accommodation process that supports remote workers
A workable process comes down to a few steps you can agree on well before anyone needs them. Setting it up in a quiet month means no manager has to improvise when a request lands.
1. Review your current policy
Most accommodation policies were written for people who come into a building, and those assumptions stay hidden until a remote request arrives. Review the policy for elements that depend on in-person interactions, such as speaking directly to a line manager or using specific office furniture.
This kind of policy review can also be useful if you have employees working in other environments, such as people based on client sites, remote offices, or who travel a lot. The goal is to remove any friction that might prevent a legitimate accommodation request, and to ensure that all employees have the support they need.
2. Provide relevant manager training
Accommodation requests can involve delicate conversations. HR experts know how to tread carefully and ask the right questions, but most managers don’t have that kind of expertise. That’s why it’s important to support local leaders by training them on how to handle these requests.
Training should include a detailed explanation of compliance requirements, especially regarding the handling of medical information. But it’s also important to train managers on the communication skills required to have these conversations. Role-play sessions with HR experts will give managers an opportunity to develop those skills.
3. Establish healthy communication practices
Communication is the most important part of managing a remote team, and the most challenging. Too little communication can lead to a breakdown in trust, but over-monitoring can also impact employee engagement. One solution is to offer multiple channels, including Slack, email and phone, so people can check in via the most convenient method at any time.
Communication cuts both ways, and it’s important that remote workers can reach out to their leader when they need to, especially if they have an urgent health-related issue. Multiple points of contact can help here, so the employee can reach out to someone even when their manager is in a meeting.
4. Keep decisions consistent across teams
When accommodation decisions sit with individual managers, two employees with similar needs can get very different answers. Route every decision through HR, so the same standards apply whether someone works remotely, on site, or somewhere in between. Keep a confidential record of each arrangement, separate from the employee’s personnel file.
Consistency also means revisiting arrangements over time, because the interactive process is ongoing. Set a review point for each accommodation, and look at the policy itself at least once a year. If an accommodation affects how you assess someone’s output, carry it through to your remote performance reviews as well.
Set up the process before the next request
Handled well, an accommodation shows your people that you’ll back them when their health needs something different. A clear process gives managers confidence and employees dignity, and it gives you a record you can stand behind. That’s simply good management.
If you’d like a hand putting one in place, this is where Helios can help.
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HR consulting, for organizations that want an accommodation process designed around how their remote team actually works.
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HR compliance, for organizations that want their accommodation policies and documentation reviewed with a remote team in mind.
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HR outsourcing, for organizations with a lean HR team that want experienced support running each request from first message to written agreement.
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Training and development, for organizations that want managers ready to spot a request and handle the conversation with confidence.
Ready to build an accommodation process your remote team can rely on? Talk with the Helios team.
Frequently asked questions
What should you do when an employee requests an accommodation?
Acknowledge the request promptly and route it to HR. Then talk with the employee about their limitations and what would help. Agree on an effective accommodation, record it confidentially, and set a date to review how it’s working.
Can remote work be a reasonable accommodation?
It can. The EEOC treats working from home as a possible reasonable accommodation when it lets someone perform the essential functions of their job. You don’t have to grant it if another effective option exists, but each request needs individual consideration.
Do remote employees have the same right to accommodations as office staff?
Yes. Under the ADA, where someone works doesn’t change their right to a reasonable accommodation or the process for requesting one. What changes is the practical side: how requests arrive, what support looks like at home, and which state laws apply.
Does an employee have to say “accommodation” to make a request?
No. A request can come in plain language, in conversation or through any other mode of communication. On a remote team, that might be a chat message or a passing comment on a video call, so managers need to recognize one when they see it.
Who should hold an employee’s medical information?
HR should. Medical information must be kept confidential and stored in separate medical files. A manager generally needs to know what the accommodation is and how it affects the work, and nothing about the diagnosis behind it.
How often should you review an accommodation?
Treat each arrangement as ongoing, because the duty to accommodate continues after the first agreement. Set a review point when you put it in place, and revisit it if the job, the employee’s needs, or your remote setup changes.
Related resources
- Work at Home/Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation (EEOC)
- Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship (EEOC)
- Telework accommodation ideas (Job Accommodation Network)
- Costs and benefits of accommodations (Job Accommodation Network)