§12111 Definitions

Summary

Defines key words used in the part of the law about work and disability rights. The Commission means the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A covered entity is an employer, an employment agency, a labor organization, or a joint labor‑management committee. A direct threat means a serious risk to other people’s health or safety that reasonable accommodation cannot remove. An employee is someone working for an employer; for work in another country this includes U.S. citizens. An employer is a person in a business affecting commerce who has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, including agents; for two years after the law’s effective date the threshold is 25 or more employees. Employer does not include the United States, a U.S. government‑owned corporation, an Indian tribe, or a private membership club exempt under section 501(c) of title 26. Illegal use of drugs means using, possessing, or distributing drugs that are unlawful under the Controlled Substances Act, but it does not include supervised medical use or other uses allowed by federal law. Drug means a controlled substance in schedules I through V. Person, labor organization, employment agency, commerce, and industry affecting commerce have the same meanings as in section 2000e. A qualified individual can do the essential job duties with or without reasonable accommodation; an employer’s judgment and any written job description made before hiring count as evidence of essential duties. Reasonable accommodation can include making facilities accessible and changes like job restructuring, part‑time or changed schedules, reassignment to a vacant job, equipment or test modifications, and providing readers or interpreters. Undue hardship means an accommodation that would cause significant difficulty or expense when you consider factors like the nature and cost of the accommodation; the finances, size, and operations of the facility and the covered entity; and the type, structure, and location of the workforce and facilities.