System Procedure 1B.4.1 Reasonable Accommodations in Employment

System Procedures
Chapter 1B - System Organization and Administration / Equal Education and Employment Opportunity

Part 1. Purpose
This procedure sets forth the framework to use when responding to requests for reasonable accommodations for prospective and current employees.

Part 2. Application
This procedure applies to situations where prospective and/or current employees self-identify with a disability or functional need and are seeking appropriate accommodation(s) and when someone identifies an individual as possibly needing an accommodation.

Part 3. Definitions
For purposes of this procedure only, the following terms are defined as follows:

Employee

Current Employee
An individual employed by a Minnesota State college, university, or the system office.

Prospective Employee
An individual who is applying or has applied for employment with a Minnesota State college, university, or the system office.

Employer
The employer is the college, university, or system office.

Essential Functions
The fundamental job duties of the position in question. The term does not include the marginal functions of the position.

Individual with a Disability
A person who has:

a physical, sensory, or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;

has a record of such an impairment or condition; or

is regarded as having such an impairment.

Interactive Process
A discussion and exchange of information between the employer and the individual with a disability to determine effective reasonable accommodation(s) for the individual.

Qualified Individual with a Disability
An individual with a disability who meets the requisite skill, education, experience, and other job-related requirements of the job and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job.

Reasonable Accommodations
A modification or adjustment to a job and/or the work environment, that enables a qualified individual with a disability to:

perform the essential functions of the position, as identified at the time of the accommodation request, and

access equal employment opportunities. Reasonable accommodations may also include those things which make a facility and its operations readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.

Part 4. Reasonable Accommodations in Employment
Minnesota State encourages the employment and promotion of any qualified individual with a disability as defined by applicable state and federal law. The employer will not discriminate in providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with a disability in regard to job application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, employee compensation, job training, or other terms and conditions of employment.

Part 5. Identification of Assigned Staff Member(s)
The employer shall identify and assign the sufficiently trained staff member(s) responsible for administering requests for reasonable accommodations, in adherence with state and federal guidelines.

Part 6. Right to Representation
In accordance with the applicable collective bargaining agreement language, employees may have the right to request and receive union representation during the interactive process.

Part 7. Providing Reasonable Accommodations
The appropriate reasonable accommodation is best determined through a flexible, interactive process that involves both the employer and the qualified individual with a disability; and may include a person of choice and the appropriate union representative as provided by the applicable collective bargaining agreement. The employer has a responsibility to make reasonable accommodations for individuals with a disability only if:

the disability is known to the employer; and
an accommodation is requested by the employee, or the employer concludes that,
1. the employee has a disability that prevents the employee from requesting an accommodation; or
2. an accommodation would allow the employee who is currently unsuccessful in performing the essential functions of the job to perform those essential functions; and
the proposed accommodation is not an undue hardship under Part 7, Subpart C.

Subpart A. Job relatedness
Reasonable accommodations will be provided for job-related needs of individuals with a disability. The primary factor in evaluating an accommodation's job relatedness is whether the accommodation specifically assists the individual to perform the essential functions of the job as identified at the time of the accommodation request. If the requested accommodation is primarily for the benefit of the individual with a disability to assist that individual in daily personal activities, the employer is not required to provide the accommodation.

Subpart B. Essential functions
Reasons a job function may be considered essential include, but are not limited to:

Because the reason the position exists is to perform that function;

Because of the limited number of employees available among whom the performance of that job function can be distributed; and/or

The function may be highly specialized so that the incumbent in the position is hired for their expertise or ability to perform the particular function.

Evidence of whether a particular function is essential includes, but is not limited to:

The employer's judgment as to which functions are essential;

Written job descriptions;

The amount of time spent on the job performing the function;

The consequences of not requiring the incumbent to perform the function;

The terms of a collective bargaining agreement;

The work experience of past incumbents in the job; and/or

The current work experience of incumbents in similar jobs.

The employer may deny employment or advancement in employment based on the inability of an individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job, and may decline to make accommodations to the physical or mental needs of an employee or job applicant with a disability if:

the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the college, university, or system office as provided under Subpart C.; or

the individual with a disability, with or without reasonable accommodations, is not qualified to perform the essential functions of that particular job; or

having the individual in the job would create a direct threat because of a significant risk to the health and safety of the individual or others and the risk cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation.

Subpart C. Undue hardship
In determining whether providing a reasonable accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer, the factors to be considered include:

The nature and net cost of the accommodation needed;

The overall financial resources of the employer involved in the provision of the reasonable accommodation, the number of persons employed, and the effect on expenses and resources;

The overall financial resources of the employer, the overall size of the business of the employer with respect to the number of its employees, and the number, type and location of its facilities;

The type of operation or operations of the employer, including the composition, structure and functions of the workforce, and the geographic separateness and administrative or fiscal relationship of the employer in question to the covered entity; and

The impact of the accommodation upon the operation of the employer, including the impact on the ability of other employees to perform their duties and the impact on the employer's ability to conduct business.

Subpart D. Documentation
Documentation of a disability may be requested as part of the interactive process.

Subpart E. Choice of accommodations
The employer is not required to provide the specific accommodation requested by the individual and may choose a reasonable alternative.

Subpart F. Accommodation Request Process
Colleges, universities, and the system office are responsible for establishing a process for requesting reasonable accommodations for individuals who self-identify with a disability or condition. The initial request may be in any form, however, campuses may require the use of standard forms to document and detail requests.

The process must include:

Any articulated request by an individual identifying with a disability/condition initiates the Accommodation Request Process.
Accommodation suggestions by others must be discussed with the individual, and if agreed to by the individual, will initiate the Accommodation Request Process.
Assignment and identification of a staff member responsible for administering requests

Part 8. Appeals Process
Colleges and universities shall create an appeal process for appealing a reasonable accommodations decision.

System Procedure History:

Date of Adoption: 01/13/26
Date of Implementation: 01/13/26
Date of Last Review:

Date & Subject of Amendments:

1/13/26 - Language from repealed System Procedure 1B.0.1 was incorporated into new procedure 1B.4.1.

No additional HISTORY

System Procedure 1B.4.1 Reasonable Accommodations in Employment

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