I keep seeing a lot of people express frustration and anger about having a disability and not being able to do anything about it. A lot of these disabilities are “what society says aren't really disabilities”, which is bullshit, and the first thing you need to do is stop thinking like that. It's capitalist brainwashing.
I received a spinal fusion at the age of 14. Worked until my body gave me the bill at 32, and now I'm on SSDI. But I was a working disabled person for a long time, and a third of America's working population has a disability of some kind. So I'm going to write out some general rules people need to know, because apparently a lot of people don't know their rights under the ADA, or Americans With Disabilities Act.
RULE #1: GET A DOCTOR'S NOTE
A doctor's note legally documents a disability. The end. If you have a diagnosis, that is a legal reality. That shit is permissible in court as evidence.
“How do I get a diagnosis if the doctor won't write me a note?” Call your doctor's office and request the ICD-10 codes. These are codes sent to medical insurance companies in order to establish cause for treatment. (You can't give someone with a broken leg a talk therapy session, for example. Told you this shit was legal.) ICD-10 codes have 6 digits in this format: 000.000
If you have a diagnosis code, congratulations, you have a legal diagnosis from your doctor. Even if you're on Medicare/Medicaid, those diagnosis codes are around for billing insurance purposes.
“What if I don't have a doctor?” Try a local free clinic. You might wait a while, and you should probably bring a book to read. But they will give you a diagnosis and a note. Low-income clinics are also possible. I was in Texas when I applied to get on disability, and I did not have a doctor. I totally understand that not having access to medical care is an obstacle. Disability and poverty go hand-in-hand. Regardless of how bad these places might be at doing their job and are strapped for cash, they do exist to try and help you. And a little help might be all you need.
RULE #2: THE ADA DOESN'T EXIST SO THAT COMPANIES CAN'T USE IT
People in wheelchairs parked on the steps of Congress to get the ADA passed. The ADA states that all companies, everywhere in the US, by federal law, must accommodate disabled workers in a “reasonable” sense. “Reasonable” is a legal term, and if your company wants to bat around what's “reasonable” they can fucking do it in court. You're here to work.
The ADA does not require employers to have a particular policy and procedure in place for determining or granting reasonable accommodations. That means most places are flying by the seat of their pants, which means they will probably be writing up something specific for you. How nice!
“My company says they can't accommodate me.” That's bullshit, and illegal. You can tell them right to their face, and follow it up with “Are you saying your company hasn't educated themselves on the ADA?” Remember, ALL BUSINESSES HAVE TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE DISABLED WORKERS. It's a federal requirement to own and operate a business, like toilet access.
“My company says I don't really have a disability.” That's not their judgement call to make, and they're gaslighting you. Again, if they want to hash this shit out in court, they can do it on their own dime. When complaints are filed at labor boards, someone somewhere along the line is going to ask “How many disabled workers have you accommodated in the last ten years?” If the answer is “None”, and there's no paperwork or records to back that up, that looks bad and discriminatory. I don't care who your boss is, they don't want to be in a hotseat for a federal fine when they could've just given you an extra break.
“My disability is just anxiety, PTSD, autism, etc.” It doesn't matter. Disability that's “like, just in your head, man” have legal diagnoses, and quantifiable, measurable medical responses. Period. It wouldn't be a fucking diagnosis otherwise. I know there's a lot of stigma around “malingering”, the idea that disabled people are just playing it up, or faking it, or are lazy. My advice is to emphatically not Give A Shit about this. People are stupid and greedy, and at the end of the day, you're the only one who has to deal with your pain level, your anxiety level, etc. If it's self-care to ask for a better work environment, then do it!
RULE #3 REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS ARE FOR YOU
Reasonable accommodation is any modification or adjustment to a job or the work environment that will enable an applicant or employee with a disability to participate in the application process or to perform essential job functions.
List of potential RAs:
- Physical changes
- Installing a ramp or modifying a rest room
- Modifying the layout of a workspace
- Accessible and assistive technologies
- Ensuring computer software is accessible
- Providing screen reader software
- Using videophones to facilitate communications with colleagues who are deaf
- Accessible communications
- Providing sign language interpreters or closed captioning at meetings and events
- Making materials available in Braille or large print
- Policy enhancements
- Modifying a policy to allow a service animal in a business setting
- Adjusting work schedules so employees with chronic medical conditions can go to medical appointments and complete their work at alternate times or locations
- Other
- Extra breaks/extra day off (usually under FMLA but not always)
- Chairs/footstools (Because Jesus Christ this is necessary, apparently)
- Reduced workload
Remember that guy with the anxiety disorder that said “Don't have a birthday party for me?” and they did anyway? Having disability on the record, and your requests to have them accommodated, is an important move for you to make as a disabled worker. Anything in writing is a legal document, so you're not hashing this out with a floor manager in conversation. You're writing this down and presenting it to HR, your boss, or your manager.
And by the way, “We can't afford to accommodate you” is not a valid excuse. The correct response to that is “Well, let's see what the Feds have to say about that.”
RULE #4 ASK FOR FIVE THINGS IN ORDER TO GET TWO
Horse trading absolutely happens among businesses, so it's a valid tactic for you. Consider what you really want, and then ask for more than that. A company might be able to tell you no on two or three things, but not everything. Asking for something extra painful for the company to accommodate (bathroom remodeling on your dime, boss?) makes them more willing to accommodate on something less painful (I'll take an extra two breaks a day, then.) All your RAs have to be reviewed, and there has to be documentation about why the business doesn't find the request “reasonable.” This is legal CYA for the company if they get investigated.
My last job was a work-from-home, part-time position as a hospital operator. I got $80 in office equipment because I can only work from my bed, two extra breaks a day, and two days a month off no harm/no foul for attendance (for chronic pain). I worked there for a grand total of 6 months. They were actually very professional and had an entire department dedicated to RAs and disabled workers. I realize not every place is going to have that, but it shows what you can get when you make your case.
“My boss said no to everything because they're 'essential functions of the job.” If you get this BS, go file a complaint at your local labor board. If you need to lift boxes but have a bad back (like me), yeah, maybe you're not going to get away with not being asked to lift anymore. But they can give you an extra fucking break, because that can be given at any job. If “everything is essential”, you're being gaslit about your rights.
“My boss says I'm not being a team player and bringing down morale.” Ignore this BS. You didn't ask to have a disability, and asking for RAs is a legal right, not some kind of terrible practice designed to harm businesses. This is grounds for hostile workplace shit, because telling an employee they're specifically bad BECAUSE they're disabled is discrimination. So is disclosing a disability, poking fun at a disability, and mocking a disability. Your disability is private medical information that YOU disclose as you see fit, and it's no one else's fucking business to discuss in the business at large. If your boss doesn't need to know that you need an extra break because you have a bad bladder, then all they need to know is that you get an extra 15 minutes break and you're taking it now. And if they ask “Why?” tell them to go to HR about it.
Remember the guy with the anxiety disorder and the birthday party. I guarantee you he was laughing last.
RULE #5 WORST COMES TO WORST, DOCUMENT AND BURN IT ALL DOWN
My stance about my disability is that if I'm not allowed to handle my chronic pain, I will fucking make it everyone else's problem. And if your business can't give you a fucking footstool, you are going to make it their problem. Report to a local labor board. Report the business for disability discrimination. Call the EEOC at 1-800-669-4000 and tell your boss and HR you're doing it. They can't retaliate against you for reporting workplace discrimination. And if you absolutely make it about your disability, they will blink. They might still fire you, but they're going to take a moment to weigh the cost of firing a disabled person with special protections. A victory that ends up just being “make as much trouble for them as possible”, it's still a victory.
“But what if they fire me?” You get to collect UE and look for a new job, while they get to deal with the headache of being investigated for disability discrimination. If nothing else you ruined their day, their week, their month because they wouldn't give you an extra 15 minute break, so fuck them and fuck them hard.
“No one's documenting anything.” Then do it yourself. HR will sit up and take notice if a federal law is involved. HR exists to protect the company, and there's a big difference between talking to a federal investigator about whether or not discrimination occurred, and asking YOU if you'd like two breaks a day or if you can get by with just the one. The EEOC has guidelines for how to document. Dates, times, names, and what was said in regard to your disability all need to be documented. “Manager laughed at my chronic pain” doesn't look good in court.
“Standing is an essential part of the job.” Well you've got a diagnosis for a bad back, so look who is going to be sitting in a fucking chair to allow you to perform your essential duties!
I hope people found this helpful, and if there are further questions please comment and I'll give my two cents. I've been aghast at some of the stories where people are assholes specifically to disabled workers about their disability, and outraged when people with PTSD and such are told they don't really have a disability.
You're not alone. You're not lazy or greedy. You have a disability and represent the Worst Possible Thing to a world of capitalism: someone who gets an exception who might not deserve it.