How we approach workplace accommodations

Buckle up, we’ve got a lot to say.

Credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Welcome to Solicited Advice, our weekly column that celebrates the helpfulness in health. Because in a world where strangers at the grocery store love to tell you that a specific brand of magnesium will indeed “cure” what ails you (it probably won’t, so sorry), we’re all about passing on our lived experience in a way that makes your life a little better. Are we experts? Nah, not really. But we’re great listeners who have perfected the art of pillow screaming. Let’s get into it!

A lot of people talk about health accommodations at work, but I’m nervous about asking for them and I’m not sure where to start. Help!

Jess: For a long time, I didn’t even realize I could ask for accommodations at work. I knew accommodations existed, but I didn’t realize they could apply to me too. After leaving the news industry, I worked for myself for several years, and I started to talk to people about the things that worked for them. I also did a lot of internet sleuthing to find out what kind of accommodations people were requesting. I tried out a lot of different things, and found a bunch that worked really well for me.

Here's a starting point: First, look at the accommodations you already give myself in your personal life — maybe that’s a stool at the kitchen counter, staying off-camera during a video call, or taking a lot of short breaks throughout the day — and talk to people about what kind of accommodations work for them to see if any of theirs would work for you. Then, if you have a therapist or medical provider you trust, it can be helpful to have a conversation (they probably have some ideas of their own, too!) and get something in writing that you can show your employer. Two things I’ve learned: 1) HR and your managers should not be discussing your accommodations with anyone else, and 2) you don’t have to disclose your conditions or why you need the accommodation (though Kat shares her experience with this below!). Having what you need documented can go a long way in helping manage expectations and responses at work, and then you can decide how much you want to disclose, to who, and when.

Ash: Similarly to Jess, I didn't realize I could even request accommodations for myself. Prior to talking to folks like the BFFs, I thought there were very strict parameters on being "disabled enough" to qualify for them — something I didn't think I fit the bill for. Due to that, and the fact that most signs of my illnesses are invisible, I’ve been able to hide it in the workplace. Knowing what I do now, and having the confidence that comes with experience in professional settings, I definitely think it's worth advocating for the environment that allows you to do your best work. For right now, I'm enjoying working for myself without any justification for doing the things that help me, even if those things aren't the most conventional. I hope that if I do find myself working for someone else again, I can use what I learn in this time of self-management to understand my needs, and eventually figure out he best time and way to approach it.

Kat: In a perfect world, I’d tell you that an employer who is unwilling to accommodate you is not an environment worth spending your time in — but I know that’s idealistic and literally unsafe for some people. Prior to 2018, my approach was to… not tell my places of employment about my health conditions. What happened after that? I stopped being able to hide it, and I ultimately shed a lot of my internalized ableism — shout-out to the four surgeries and bout of terrifying facial paralysis I had between 2016-2018 — that was telling me accommodations were “weak” and “selfish.” While you are not obligated to share any specifics about the what and why of your brain and body, I’ve found that adding reasoning to certain accommodations has garnered the best results for me.

Here’s a real-life example: I need to avoid as many meetings as possible after 3 p.m. ET because of cognitive fatigue. It has nothing to do with my personal schedule, I just truly stop being able to absorb information. When I’ve requested this accommodation in the past, I usually say what I can do as well (which for me is any meeting time between 8-3 p.m. my time). It shows that I’m not being “difficult” and instead am simply communicating how I work best. Another tip, and this is something the four of us constantly put into practice, is sharing your accommodations with a safe-to-you colleague, who can help reinforce and normalize accessibility in the broader workplace. Using the example I shared above, this could look something like, “Actually, Kat can’t take meetings after 3 p.m. ET, how about we meet at 1:30 p.m. instead?” This is a great way to bring a little allyship into the picture, too!

Skyler: In theory, we shouldn’t have to think twice about asking for accommodations. Everyone could abide by the law and actually protect protected classes. Unfortunately, we do live in a world with some gross corporations and organizations with HR departments that most definitely work for the company and not for you, the employee. While the majority of my experience with documented accommodations is in the academic realm, I do have a few resources that I love to share with my fellow spoonies:

• Job Accommodation Network (JAN) — If you’re an employer, employee, or anyone who’s ever had a question about accommodations in the workplace, then I can’t recommend this website enough. As a service through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, JAN offers a litany of resources — including examples of accommodations based on condition, tips for talking to your employer about accommodations, and a library of documents from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) — and a variety of ways to reach out for further assistance and one-on-one consultations.

• Selected Heritable Disorders of Connective Tissue and Disability — While this book was written more more in regard to people applying for SSDI and SSI (Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income, respectively) benefits, there is a ton of information about this oft-overlooked group of disorders and the ways these conditions affect a person’s ability to work or attend school that can help you put words to the signs and symptoms you experience and the support you need to be successful in your role as an employee or student.

• Condition-specific organizations and resources — Who knows what helps people with health conditions better than people who live with those health conditions? Patient advocacy organizations often share information about job accommodations and how to talk to HR and your boss about getting them. One of my favorite resources comes from the American Migraine Foundation: Migraine at Work.

I like to think that one day companies will be created with accessibility in mind and the onus won’t be placed on those of us who need accommodations to jump through the current hoops required to receive them.

🫠 P.S. While we’re dreaming of such a fantasy, could we please get rid of pre-employment physicals while we’re at it?! I’m fine being tested for tuberculosis, but please don’t interrogate me about whether I think I’m physically capable of working the desk job I’ve already accepted! And insinuate I’m incapable of steady employment! (Can you tell I speak from experience?)

---

Got a question you want to ask us? Reply to this email or DM us on Substack — we’ll keep your identity anonymous! P.S. Our really professional lawyers (they wear pantsuits and everything) tell us we can’t dispense any kind of medical advice to the public, but we appreciate you thinking we could even do that in the first place. You’re a real one.

---

More Solicited Advice