Glossary

Definitions of the terms you will meet on this site, and on official pages about your rights. Each one avoids jargon so you can act on it.

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Accommodation: A change to a job, a workplace, or the way work is usually done that lets a person with a disability do their job and have the same opportunities as everyone else. Examples include a flexible schedule, special equipment, or a quieter workspace.
ADA: The Americans with Disabilities Act, the main federal law that prohibits disability discrimination and requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations. Its employment rules (Title I) apply to employers with 15 or more employees.

Disability: Under the ADA, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. The definition is meant to be read broadly, and a condition does not have to be permanent or severe to count.
Disclosure: Telling your employer about a health condition, usually so you can ask for a change. You control what you share, and in general you only need to share what connects your condition to the change you are requesting.

EEOC: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that enforces the ADA employment rules and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and that handles workplace discrimination charges.
Essential functions: The core duties of a job, the things the role exists to do. A reasonable accommodation changes how an essential function is done, not whether it is done at all.

Interactive process: The good-faith, back-and-forth conversation between you and your employer to find a workable accommodation. The EEOC expects both sides to take part.

JAN: The Job Accommodation Network, a free and confidential service funded by the U.S. Department of Labor that suggests accommodation ideas for specific conditions.

PWFA: The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a federal law effective in 2023 that requires covered employers (15 or more employees) to accommodate known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so is an undue hardship.

Reasonable accommodation: A change an employer makes so a worker with a disability can do their job, as long as it does not cause undue hardship. An employer can offer an equally effective alternative instead of the exact change you asked for.
Retaliation: Punishing a worker for asking for an accommodation or for asserting their rights, for example by firing, demoting, or cutting hours. It is illegal under the laws the EEOC enforces.

Undue hardship: The legal standard an employer must meet to refuse an accommodation as too difficult or costly: significant difficulty or expense, judged against the employer's own size and resources. It is a high bar.