How much time does an employee have to provide me with medical documentation for a reasonable accommodation?

Unfortunately, neither the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) nor the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) have a specific time limit for the employee to provide medical documentation to support a request for reasonable accommodation. This often leaves employers wondering how long they must wait, and whether they must begin the requested accommodation before receiving documentation. There are no easy answers to these questions.

Many employers choose to apply the timelines from the family leave laws, which require that an employer allow at least 15 days to return a certification, and then provide extra time if the employee is unable to obtain it for reasons beyond their control.

Some examples might be when an employee needs to see a specialist with whom it is difficult to get an appointment, or when an employee’s physician is out of the office on vacation.

Employers should consider creating a disability accommodation policy that lays out the steps and expected timeframes for the interactive process required under the ADA and FEHA.

Keep in mind that the employer has more responsibility for participating in the interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations than does the employee, so a prudent employer should make and document their attempts to seek documentation even after the deadline.

Furthermore, the ADA and FEHA do not provide specific guidance about whether an employer is obligated to begin an accommodation, such as providing a leave of absence, before receiving medical certification.

The EEOC provides this guidance: “An employer should respond expeditiously to a request for reasonable accommodation… Similarly, the employer should act promptly to provide the reasonable accommodation. Unnecessary delays can result in a violation of the ADA.” (EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the Americans with Disabilities Act).

California’s regulations implementing FEHA, however, say: “If the medical documentation provided to date does not support any reasonable accommodation, no reasonable accommodation need be required.” (California Code of Regulations, Title 2, Section 11069(d)(6)).

Employers should therefore consider granting a leave as an accommodation even before receiving medical documentation, absent undue hardship, conditioned on receiving documentation in a timely fashion.

Read more about Documentation of Disability in the HR Library.