Job Accommodation Network Helps Improve Work Conditions for Employees with Disabilities

Tucked away in Morgantown, W.Va., just off the campus of West Virginia University (WVU), is a federal government service with 27 employees who educate private employers on reasonable workplace accommodations and advocate on behalf of people with disabilities and health conditions.

Each day, the guidance that the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) gives employers and employees changes lives:A nurse with a hearing impairment who worked the night shift found it difficult to hear the doctors who routinely called her for information.

She asked to be reassigned to the day shift since there would be other nurses who could talk to the doctors, but there were no openings. After consulting with JAN, the nurse’s employer purchased a $50 telephone amplifier that enabled the nurse to better hear phone conversations—and better perform her job functions.

A pharmacy technician with lymphedema of the arms caused by breast cancer was having difficulty sitting at her desk with her arms extended for

Source: Job Accommodation Network Helps Improve Work Conditions for Employees with Disabilities