Work-related Accommodations
ADA Accommodations
In 1973, the United States passed sections 501 and 503 of the Rehabilitation act as a subset to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
One of the key aspects of this law is to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities (short or long-term). Accommodations make it possible for a person with a disability to perform their job, but they must not create an "undue hardship" for the employer, in other words cause too much difficulty or expense to implement. At UNC, an accommodation is any change in the work environment or in the way things are customarily done that enables an individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities.
Request Accommodation
If you need an accommodation to complete the duties of your job because of a medical condition, you should submit a request with HR. Your physician will need to complete the Request for Accommodation - Medial Certification form.
Public Health Emergency Law (PHEL)
For employees who still have medical leave requests related to COVID-19, may qualify for PHEL. Please contact HR for more inforamation or visit Colorado Department of Health for the latest updates.
- COVID: The requirement to provide COVID-related public health emergency leave (PHEL) continues to be in effect until May 11, 2023 (with the last eligible date of June 8, 2023)
- RSV/Flu: Effective November 11, 2022 (updated December 10), PHEL has been extended to cover RSV & the flu for 30 days (until January 8, 2023). NOTICE: The RSV/FLU extenstion has expired. For more information, visit the Healthy Families Workplace Act (HFWA).
- Monkeypox: To date, no federal, state, or local PHEs related to Monkeypox have been declared that require employers to provide PHE leave for Monkeypox-related needs. However, accrued paid sick leave can be taken related to Monkeypox if the leave is taken for one or more of the needs listed in the Accrued Paid Sick Leave section at https://cdle.colorado.gov/hfwa
Apply for PHEL
Family and Medical Leave
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave. FMLA is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons.
If you need to take time off work (more than 3 consecutive days, or regularly recurring time off) to care for yourself or a family member, you should request FMLA leave. You can start the FMLA leave request process by contacting HR - human.resources@unco.edu.
Disability Categories
If an employee is unable to perform assigned job duties, even with the aid of reasonable accommodations, the employee may need to apply for short/long term disability. Please contact HR for additional information on short/long term disability at human.resource@unco.edu.
