Job Accommodation Network

Introduction

JAN's Accommodation and Compliance Series is designed to help employers determine effective accommodations and comply with Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Accommodation and Compliance Series is a starting point in the accommodation process and may not address every situation. Accommodations should be made on a case by case basis, considering each employee's individual limitations and accommodation needs. Employers are encouraged to contact JAN to discuss specific situations in more detail.

For information on assistive technology and other accommodation ideas, visit JAN's Searchable Online Accommodation Resource (SOAR) at http://www.jan.wvu.edu/soar.

Information about Service Animals

Why do people with disabilities use service animals?

People with disabilities use service animals for a variety of reasons. For example, a person who is deaf might use a hearing cat to alert him to sounds in his environment, a person with a motor impairment might use a service monkey to retrieve small items from a satchel on the floor, and a person who is blind might use a guide dog to help her travel to/from work and move about her workplace.

How does a person with a disability select a service animal?

When a person with a disability is thinking about acquiring a service animal, here are some possible considerations:

What disability or disabilities does the person have?
What are the person's functional limitations?
What work or tasks does the person need the service animal to perform?
In what settings will the service animal accompany the person with a disability?
What type of service animal would be effective? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
What safety concerns may others have? Are these founded in fact or speculation?
Can the individual care for the daily needs of the service animal?
How can the person obtain a service animal?
What individualized training has the service animal received?
Are the person with a disability and the service animal compatible?
Where can a person with a disability obtain an individually trained service animal?

When a person with a disability is seeking a service animal, it may be helpful to contact service animal training organizations to learn more about the nature and extent of the training offered. Many service animal organizations are not-for-profit; some may have a waiting list. For more information, visit: http://www.jan.wvu.edu/cgi-win/TypeQuery.exe?762.

What types of animals might qualify as service animals?

There is not a comprehensive list of what types of animals can be service animals. Animals, like people, have different temperaments, limitations, skills, and abilities. Thus, different types and breeds of animals may be trained to perform specific tasks. Matching a particular animal's skills and abilities to the tasks that need to be performed can be an important factor for a person with a disability when selecting a service animal.

Often, phrases are coined to describe the type of impairment or task a particular animal is assisting with-such as "signal dog," "hearing cat," "assistance monkey," "guide horse," and "seizure response dog."

Dogs

Dogs of various breeds are currently trained as service animals. Examples include but are not limited to Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Border Collies, and German Shepherds. Dogs may be trained to assist people with many different types of impairments.

Dogs were first used as service animals in the early 1900's in Germany. The dogs were trained to assist World War I Veterans with vision loss.

Dorothy Harrison Eustis, an American philanthropist living in Switzerland, is generally credited with bringing the service animal movement to the United States. As a dog breeder traveling abroad, she toured a service animal training school. Her account of the experience, "The Seeing Eye", was published in 1927 by the Saturday Evening Post. In the article she writes, "[Germany] has established a very simple and businesslike school for training her dogs as blind leaders."

The article prompted Morris Frank, a Tennessean who had lost his sight, to contact Eustis. Together, the pair trained a dog in Switzerland for service. Frank returned home with the guide dog in 1928, making Buddy the first known service animal in America. The term "seeing eye dog" stems from "The Seeing Eye" article and the organization with the same name, founded by Eustis and Frank (Women…, 1999; Pioneers, n.d.; Eustis, 1927). For more information, visit: http://www.seeingeye.org.

Medical Response Animals

A medical response animal is generally one that has been trained to respond during or after a person has a medical occurrence, e.g., a seizure. The animal might be trained to respond by performing tasks for the person with a disability, such as lying down by the person to prevent harm or notifying others.

Some individuals and researchers report that there are unique dogs with the ability to predict medical occurrences related to certain conditions, e.g., seizure disorders and diabetes (Reep et al., 1998; Epilepsy Foundation, 2001; & Chen et al., 2000). To date, it is not certain exactly how or to what extent animals can instinctively understand or learn to detect specific medical problems before they happen. As mentioned earlier, to be considered a service animal under the ADA, the animal must meet the definition under the law, i.e., be trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.

Other Types of Animals

Helpful domestic animals and exotic animals do not automatically qualify as service animals for the purpose of the ADA. Some might argue that an animal may have the innate ability to comfort, support, or protect someone. However, a specific animal may not meet the ADA definition of a service animal because it has not been individually trained to work or perform duties to assist a person with a disability.

One example of a type of animal that has been trained for service is a miniature horse. According to The Guide Horse Foundation (http://www.guidehorse.org), miniature horses may be a good option as a guide animal because they are intelligent, focused, small in stature, may offer an alternative for people who are allergic to dogs, and because they tend to have a long life span.

Currently, there appears to be limited information about the use of service animals other than dogs in the workplace. Whether a particular animal may be effective as a service animal in the work environment should be considered on a case by case basis.

Service Animals and the Americans with Disabilities Act

How does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) define service animal?

According to the ADA Handbook, the term "service animal" is defined as follows:

Service animal means any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items (EEOC & DOJ, 1992).

Also:

If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government… Some, but not all, service animals wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or certified and have identification papers. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it is a service animal required because of a disability (DOJ, 1996).

Service animals work and perform tasks. Service animals are not pets.

Does the ADA require employers to allow the use of service animals in the workplace?

Maybe. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the enforcing authority for Title I-employment-of the ADA, an employer with 15 or more employees "must provide a reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified applicant or employee with a disability unless it can show that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the business" (EEOC, 1992).

Unlike Title III of the ADA, which deals with public access issues, Title I does not address specific service animal access issues. To learn more, JAN contacted a representative of the EEOC to find out whether employers are required to allow employees with disabilities to use their service animals at work. The EEOC representative indicated that Title I does not require automatic access for service animals in the work environment. Instead, allowing a service animal into the workplace would be a form of reasonable accommodation-meaning that the employer must consider allowing an employee with a disability to use a service animal at work unless doing so would result in an undue hardship.

EEOC does provide an example about how it may be a reasonable accommodation to permit the use of a service animal in the workplace, though an employer is not required to select and obtain a service animal for a person with disability:

It may also be a reasonable accommodation to permit an individual with a disability the opportunity to provide and utilize equipment, aids or services that an employer is not required to provide as a reasonable accommodation. For example, it would be a reasonable accommodation for an employer to permit an individual who is blind to use a guide dog at work, even though the employer would not be required to provide a guide dog for the employee (EEOC, 2003).

According to the EEOC, an employer may choose between reasonable accommodations that would be effective:

If more than one accommodation would be effective for the individual with a disability, or if the individual would prefer to provide his or her own accommodation, the individual's preference should be given first consideration. However, the employer is free to choose among effective accommodations, and may choose one that is less expensive or easier to provide (EEOC, 1992).

When an employer is contemplating whether to allow the use of a service animal as an accommodation or whether to choose another accommodation option, it may be helpful to consider whether allowing the service animal would offer beneficial and perhaps unique solutions, such as performing specific tasks to assist a person with a disability at work.

Does the ADA allow employers to consider safety issues related to service animals?

Employers and co-workers may have fears and concerns about safety. Speculating that there will be a threat to safety is not a sufficient reason to deny service animal access. According to the EEOC, objective evidence is needed to determine that a direct threat exists:

[A]n employer must meet very specific and stringent requirements under the ADA to establish that such a "direct threat" exists. The employer must be prepared to show that there is:

significant risk of substantial harm; the specific risk must be entified; it must be a current risk, not one that is speculative or remote; the assessment of risk must be based on objective medical or other factual evidence regarding a particular individual; and even if a genuine significant risk of substantial harm exists, the employer must consider whether the risk can be eliminated or reduced below the level of a "direct threat" by reasonable accommodation (EEOC, 1992).

It is understandable that employers and co-workers might have concerns about a situation that is new to them. General disability awareness and education can help alleviate fears, quell stereotypes, and diffuse misunderstandings. Sharing information about service animals might help illustrate how using a service animal could offer effective solutions to challenging workplace situations.

Accommodating Employees who Use Service Animals

(Note: People use service animals for a variety of reasons, so their accommodation needs will vary. The following is only a sample of the accommodation possibilities available. Numerous other accommodation solutions may exist.)

Questions to Consider:

1. What limitations is the employee who uses a service animal experiencing?

2. How do these limitations affect the employee and the employee's job performance?

3. What specific job tasks are problematic as a result of these limitations?

4. What accommodations are available to reduce or eliminate these problems? Are all possible resources being used to determine possible accommodations?

5. Has the employee who uses the service animal been consulted regarding possible accommodations?

6. Once accommodations are in place, would it be useful to meet with the employee who uses the service animal to evaluate the effectiveness of the accommodations and to determine whether additional accommodations are needed?

7. Do supervisory personnel and employees need training regarding the use of service animals?

Accommodation Ideas:

Using a Service Animal at Work:

Allow the employee with a disability to bring his or her service animal to work.
Allow the employee to take leave in order to participate in individualized service animal training.
Provide the employee with a private/enclosed workspace.
Provide the employee with an office space near a door and/or out of high traffic areas.
Establish an accessible path of travel that is barrier-free.
Allow equal access to employee break rooms, lunchrooms, rest rooms, meeting rooms, and services provided/sponsored by the employer.

Caring for a Service Animal at Work:

Provide a designated area where the employee can tend to the service animal's basic daily needs, e.g., eating or bodily functions.
Allow periodic breaks so the employee can care for the service animal's basic daily needs.
If the employee only requires the service animal to travel to and from work, provide a designated area the service animal can occupy until the employee's shift ends.
Provide general disability awareness training on the use of service animals in the workplace.

Balancing Worksite Access When a Coworker is Allergic to the Service Animal:

Allow the employees to work in different areas of the building.
Establish different paths of travel for each employee.
Provide one or each of the employees with private/enclosed workspace.
Use a portable air purifier at each workstation.
Allow flexible scheduling so the employees do not work at the same time.
Allow one of the employees to work at home or to move to another location.
Develop a plan between the employees so they are not using common areas-such as the break room and restroom-at the same time.
Allow the employees to take periodic rest breaks if needed, e.g., to take medication.
For meetings attended by both employees, ask the employee who uses the service animal if (s)he is able to temporarily use other accommodations to replace the functions performed by the service animal.
Arrange for alternatives to in-person communication, such as e-mail, telephone, teleconferencing, and videoconferencing.
Ask the employee who uses a service animal if (s)he is willing to use dander care products on the animal regularly. Most veterinarians and local pet supply stores carry these types of products.
Ask the employee who is allergic to the service animal if (s)he wants to, and would benefit from, wearing an allergen/nuisance mask. Many local home improvement or hardware stores carry these types of masks.
Add HEPA filters to the existing ventilation system.
Have the work area-including carpets, cubicle walls, and window treatments-cleaned, dusted, and vacuumed regularly.

Etiquette Tips:

When approaching a person with a disability who is accompanied by a service animal, address the person. Also, remember that service animals are working and are not pets. It is not appropriate to touch, pet, or feed treats to a service animal without the owner's permission.

Situations and Solutions:

A dental office hired a receptionist with a vision impairment to work in the front office. The new employee had acquired a service animal, but did not yet have accrued vacation time that could be used for service animal training. The employer allowed the receptionist to take unpaid leave to attend service animal training.

A state employee with a mobility impairment uses a scooter and a service animal. The employer was concerned about how the employee would tend to the service animal's basic daily needs. JAN provided product information on "pooper scoopers" with a long handle so the employee could use his scooter to go outside and tend to his service animal's "restroom" breaks.

An insurance agency employee with Multiple Sclerosis and anxiety requested that the employer permit her to use a service dog on the job for mobility and stress reduction. The employer agreed to allow the employee to bring her service animal to work, provided training to staff on service animals as workplace accommodations, and installed new doors that were easier for the individual to open.

Products:

There are numerous products that can be used to accommodate people with limitations. JAN's Searchable Online Accommodation Resource (SOAR) at http://www.jan.wvu.edu/soar is designed to let users explore various accommodation options. Many product vendor lists are accessible through this system; however, upon request JAN provides these lists and many more that are not available on the Web site. Contact JAN directly if you have specific accommodation situations, are looking for products, need vendor information, or are seeking a referral.

For additional information, visit these specific JAN SOAR links:

Service Animal Training Organizations
http://www.jan.wvu.edu/cgi-win/TypeQuery.exe?762

Service Animal Equipment and Accessories
http://www.jan.wvu.edu/cgi-win/OrgQuery.exe?Sol723

Resources

References

Chen, M., Daly, M., Williams, N., Williams, S., Williams, C., & Williams, G. (2000). Non-invasive detection of hypoglycaemia using a novel, fully biocompatible and patient friendly alarm system. British Medical Journal. Retrieved December 16, 2005, from http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7276/1565

Department of Justice. (1996). Commonly asked questions about service animals in places of business. Retrieved December 16, 2005, from http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/qasrvc.htm

Epilepsy Foundation. (2001). All about seizure dogs. Retrieved January 24, 2005, from http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/epilepsyusa/aboutseizuredogs.cfm

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Justice. (1992). ADA handbook. Retrieved December 16, 2005, from http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/adahandbook/handbook.html

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (1992). A technical assistance manual on the employment provisions (title I) of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Retrieved April 29, 2005, from http://www.jan.wvu.edu/links/ADAtam1.html

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Regulations to Implement the Equal Employment Provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 29 C.F.R. § 1630 (2003).

Eustis, D.H.. The seeing eye. (1927, November 5). Saturday Evening Post, p. 42-46.

Pioneers. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2005, from http://www.inkabijou.co.uk/guides.htm

Reep, R.L., Dalziel, D., Davenport, P., Uthman, B. (1998). Evaluating the abilities of seizure-alert dogs. Retrieved May 23, 2002, from http://www.vetmed.ufl.edu/

Women in American history. (1999). Encyclopedia britannica online. Retrieved December 16, 2005, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online http://www.britannica.com/