Personnel Regulation 49: Reasonable Accommodation

The County of Marin will provide reasonable accommodation to persons who have a known qualifying medical condition, physical disability or mental disability where accommodation is needed to (1) enable a person to be considered for a job, (2) enable an employee to perform the essential functions of the employee’s job, and/or (3) enable an employee to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment. The County is not required to provide a reasonable accommodation that would create an undue hardship for the County or present a direct threat to the employee/applicant. In general, it is the responsibility of the person with a disability to notify the County that a reasonable accommodation is needed.

Upon request, reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified job applicants with disabilities. An accommodation request should be submitted with the employment application. Text telephones (TTY) are available for persons with communications disabilities. Persons with disabilities requesting a reasonable accommodation can expect the Human Resources Department to respond on a case-by-case basis. If the existence of a disability and/or the need for accommodation is not obvious, the Human Resources Department will seek appropriate documentation of the disability, limitations, and the needed accommodations from the applicant.

A.  Request for Reasonable Accommodation. An employee who believes he/she/they is a qualified employee with a disability must complete an Employee Reasonable Accommodation Request Form (PMR 49 -- Form 1) and submit the form to the Human Resources Department. An employee is entitled to representation throughout this process.

B.  Medical Documentation

1. If the existence of a disability and/or the need for accommodation is not obvious, the employee must have the employee’s physician or health care provider complete a Physician or Practitioner Certification – Request for Reasonable Accommodation Form (PMR 49 – Form 2) to support the request for reasonable accommodation. PMR 49 – Form 2 must be completed, signed , and dated by the employee’s physician or health care provider.
2. If the submitted PMR 49 – Form 2 is inadequate, incomplete, or conflicts with other information obtained, the Human Resources Department may ask the employee to obtain further information from the employee’s physician or health care provider. Failure to provide adequate and complete documentation may result in a denial of the employee’s request for accommodation.

A. Once the need for reasonable accommodation arises either by the employee’s request or by the County’s knowledge of the employee’s disability, the County by and through the applicable department and the Human Resources Department, or their designee, will engage in the following process: 

1. Review the purpose and essential functions of the job.
2. Engage in an interactive dialogue with the employee with a disability to ascertain the precise job-related limitations imposed by the employee’s disability and how those limitations would be overcome with a reasonable accommodation.
3. In consulting with the employee, identify the potential reasonable accommodations and assess the effectiveness each would have in enabling the employee to perform the essential functions of the position.
4. Consider the preference of the employee to be accommodated.  Select and implement the reasonable accommodation most appropriate for the County in collaboration with the employee’s input. 

B.  An employee who has requested a reasonable accommodation must actively participate in the interactive process, as directed by the Human Resources Department.  This participation includes communicating with the Human Resources Department and/or designee about the request, providing medical documentation when requested, identifying potential accommodation options, and determining accommodation(s). 

C.  The appropriate accommodation in any given situation will be determined on a case-by-case basis. 

D.  The County Executive or the Human Resources Director if designated by the County Executive will make a decision regarding what constitutes undue hardship. Such decision will be final.  Reasonable accommodation may not be granted if it creates an undue hardship for the County.